Lost
by Cyri's Alter Ego
Summary: Sequel to Snow Leopard. Snowpaw has found an unexpected secret after exiling herself from ThunderClan... How will Half and Cyri cope with simply being themselves?
1. Allegiances

**Well, I said that I might post it, and here it is. Sorry it took so long for me to get another story posted, I've been... er... recovering... from NaNoWriMo. But, one can only do so much lounging around feeling happy that they've completed a NaNoWriMo... So, I felt that it was Writing Time again. So... sequel to Snow Leopard. Here starts Lost!**

ThunderClan

LEADER: Lionstar - golden tabby tom with amber eyes

DEPUTY: Whitewing - white she-cat with green eyes

MEDICINE CAT: Jayfeather - grey tabby tom with blue eyes  
Apprentice - Mistypool

WARRIORS:

Spiderleg - long-limbed black tom with a brown underbelly and amber eyes

Birchfall - light brown tabby tom

Mousewhisker - grey-and-white tom

Hazeltail - small grey-and-white she-cat

Cinderheart - grey tabby she-cat

Poppyfrost - tortoiseshell she-cat  
Apprentice - Swallowpaw

Foxleap - reddish tabby tom

Millie - striped grey tabby she-cat, former kittypet

Toadspots - black-and-white tom  
Apprentice - Pinepaw

Bumblestripe - very pale grey tom with black stripes

Blossomflower - pale brown she-cat with a dark stripe along her spine

Dovewing - fluffy grey she-cat  
Apprentice - Thrushpaw

Emberfire - dark ginger tom

Beechtail - brown tabby tom

Stormflight - long-furred dark grey tom

APPRENTICES:

Mistypool - mottled brown she-cat with yellow eyes, apprentice to the medicine cat

Swallowpaw - pale brown she-cat

Thrushpaw - brown tom with amber eyes

Pinepaw - long-haired grey tom

QUEENS:

Willowstorm - tawny-furred she-cat with amber eyes, mother of Emberfire's kits; Icekit (white she-kit), Heatherkit (dark ginger she-kit) and Mousekit (tawny tom with green eyes)

Briarfern - dark brown she-cat, mother of Toadspots' kits; Tigerkit (ginger tabby tom) and Goldenkit (dark golden she-kit)

Roseflower - dark cream she-cat, mother of Beechtail's kit; Oakkit (pale brown tom)

Ivypool - tabby-and-white she-cat, mother of Stormflight's kits; Firekit (grey tabby tom), Ashkit (dark grey she-kit) and Tawnykit (tawny she-kit)

Icecloud - white she-cat, mother of Lionstar's kits; Brightkit (white she-cat with amber eyes) and Fernkit (tortoiseshell she-cat)

ELDERS:

Brackenfur - golden brown tabby tom

Brightheart - white she-cat with ginger patches

Squirrelflight - dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

Cloudtail - long-haired white tom with blue eyes

Ferncloud - pale grey (with darker flecks) she-cat with green eyes

ShadowClan

LEADER: Russetstar - dark ginger she-cat

DEPUTY: Snaketail - dark brown tom with a tabby striped tail

MEDICINE CAT: Flamefur - ginger tom

WARRIORS:

Crowfrost - black-and-white tom

Kinkfur - tabby she-cat with fur that sticks out at all angles

Ratscar - brown tom with a long scar across his back

Tigerheart - dark brown tabby tom  
Apprentice - Frostpaw

Scorchfire - dark grey tom

Redstorm - mottled brown and ginger tom

Owlflight - light brown tabby tom  
Apprentice - Yellowpaw

Shrewfoot - grey she-cat with black feet  
Apprentice - Jaypaw

Darkblaze - long-furred black tom with green eyes

Mintcloud - tortoiseshell she-cat

Larkpelt - dark grey she-cat

Sparrowfur - russet brown tom

Brindleclaw - tortoiseshell she-cat

Mothfrost - brown tabby she-cat

Cloudheart - dark grey tom with paler patches

APPRENTICES:

Jaypaw - black tom with green eyes

Yellowpaw - grey she-cat with yellow eyes

Frostpaw - grey and white she-cat

QUEENS:

Silverstripe - silver she-cat, mother of Sparrowfur's kits; Lionkit (golden-furred she-kit), Thistlekit (silver tom), and Sandkit (dark ginger she-kit)

Dawnbreeze - cream-furred she-cat, mother of Scorchfire's kit; Sorrelkit (tortoiseshell she-kit with a white chest and white paws)

ELDERS:

Rowanclaw - ginger tom, former deputy

Snowbird - pure white she-cat

Tawnypelt - tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Oakfur - small brown tom

WindClan

LEADER: Onestar - brown tabby tom

DEPUTY: Leaftail - dark tabby tom with amber eyes

MEDICINE CAT: Kestrelfeather - mottled grey tom

WARRIORS:

Owlwhisker - light brown tabby tom

Weaselfur - ginger tom with white paws

Harespring - brown and white tom

Willowclaw - grey she-cat

Dewspots - spotted grey tabby she-cat

Breezepelt - black tom with amber eyes

Heathertail - light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Thistleleaf - long-haired white tom

Sedgefoot - light brown tabby she-cat

Swallowflight - dark grey she-cat

Sunspot - tortoiseshell she-cat with large white mark on her forehead

Poppystorm - black she-cat with yellow eyes

Moonclaw - pale grey tom with darker stripes

Browntail - brown tom

Tallfoot - brown-and-white tom with very long back legs

Volefur - pale brown tom

Mousefoot - brown tabby tom

Thrushfern - dark brown she-cat

APPRENTICES:

QUEENS:

Mistflower - black she-cat, mother of Mousefoot's kits; Spottedkit (white she-kit with black markings on her fur), Squirrelkit (grey tabby tom) and Rowankit (black she-kit with green eyes)

Ravenwhisker - black she-cat, mother of Volefur's kits; Duskkit (dusky brown tom) and Whitekit (white she-kit)

ELDERS:

Crowfeather - dark grey tom

Whitetail - small white she-cat

Nightcloud - black she-cat

RiverClan

LEADER: Mistystar - grey she-cat with blue eyes

DEPUTY: Beechfur - light brown tom

MEDICINE CAT: Willowshine - grey tabby she-cat

WARRIORS:

Rippletail - dark grey tabby tom

Pouncetail - ginger-and-white tom

Mintfur - light grey tabby tom

Otterheart - dark brown she-cat

Pinefur - very short-haired tabby she-cat

Rainstorm - mottled blue-grey tom  
Apprentice - Petalpaw

Duskfur - brown tabby she-cat

Minnowstream - dark grey she-cat

Pebblefur - mottled grey tom

Mallowtail - light brown tabby tom

Sneezenose - grey-and-white tom

Nettlepelt - dark brown tabby tom

Robinleaf - tortoiseshell-and-white tom

Icewing - white she-cat with blue eyes

Copperwhisker - dark ginger she-cat

Duststorm - pale grey tom with pale blue eyes

Smokeflight - dark grey she-cat with dark blue eyes

ELDERS:

Voletooth - small brown tabby tom

Reedwhisker - black tom

Greymist - pale grey tabby she-cat

Dapplenose - mottled grey she-cat

Cats Outside Clans

Snowpaw - white she-cat with blue eyes and grey tipped ears

Half - white tom with a few black spots

Cyri - grey speckled she-cat with a white belly and white paws


	2. Prologue

**Here's the first chapter of Lost... it's the prologue. And thanks to xXStarless NightXx, Moonstreak1, allygirl56 and Cinderpaw11 for reviewing.**

Prologue

Claws flashed across the white she-cat's vision. Her breath hitched in her throat as she caught a glimpse of grey speckled fur, before the claws tore across the fur with a heart-wrenching ripping sound.

The she-cat's eyes widened and her breath came in wild gasps as blood started flowing freely from the claw wound, staining the fur a dark red. The scent of blood filled her nostils - retching and choking, she tried to pull away from the sight, but somehow, wherever she turned, the spectacle was there.

And now the bloodied fur had been exchanged for eyes in a black-furred face - bright amber eyes that were ferocious and caught in the heat of battle. But before the she-cat even had a chance to feel afraid, another gleam of claws slashed their savage way into the picture, scoring a path down the side of the cat's face. The fierce look in the cat's eyes died, to be replaced by a briefly flaring look of fear, before the vivid amber eyes met with the white she-cat's one last time, and then dulled in unmistakeable death.

A yowl of agony reached the white she-cat's ears. She trembled at the pure terror of the sound before realising that it was coming out of her own jaws, that she was spiralling down, down, down into a dark despair...

And then, she was lying on the forest floor, her breathing ragged and laboured. Her fur was fluffed out and spiked with dirt and the remains of dead leaves.

"It's just a dream..." she mewed quietly to herself. She was shocked to find that her mew was so unsteady. "Only a dream..."

But it had happened. It wasn't _just_ a dream. That grey speckled fur... And the amber eyes... They were the eyes of Leopardpaw.

"And Pepper..." murmured the white she-cat. She rolled on her front and shut her blue eyes briefly, allowing herself to recall the soft kittypet scent of her long-dead mate for a moment.

She rested her head on her paws, feeling a familiar wave of depression sweep over her. Even though it had been nearly two moons since Leopardpaw and Papper's deaths, Snowpaw still had the same nightmare about them every time she closed her eyes.

She most dreaded the flashes of anger they brought. After the dreams... the shredded patches of grass that her claws had torn up... longing to claw the life out of something, anything, to make up for what had happened...

The out of control state of her mind was something that the white she-cat had not yet learned to restrain. It scared her... which was why she distanced herself from all cats. She didn't trust herself at all.

And then, the frightening day when she realised what had happened to her, almost a whole moon ago. Fresh from her experiences, the white cat had believed that by exiling herself from her Clan she had saved the lives of some innocent kits. But when she realised that she herself was carrying kits...

Her wails had carried over the treetops as she mourned in advance for the kits that she knew one day would die at their mother's claws.

She was only a few days away from giving birth, and the blue-eyed loner still had no idea what to do.

As she felt the unborn shapes squirming inside her belly, she felt a brush of rising panic.

_This is the beginning of how I will destroy myself._


	3. One

**Thanks to Wildpelt, xXStarless NightXx, Spottedstarshell, Brightspirit, allygirl56, and emberheart0 for reviewing! Has anyone read the new Warriors book yet? I want it soooo much... I'm jealous of anyone who has it already.**

One

Cyri blinked in the harsh sunlight. Her vision was still a little blurry, as she had only opened her eyes the previous day, but she could still see. She could see the trees stretching, tall and vast, into the blueness of the sky. Craning her neck, Cyri tried to see the tops of the trees, but they were far too tall.

Standing up to get a better look, Cyri tottered slightly on her fragile paws. She swayed for a heartbeat, unsteady, before stretching out her muzzle as far as she could and sniffing the air.

The young she-cat glanced back over at her nest. Her mother, Snowpaw, was still asleep. Half, Cyri's brother, was snuggled into her belly comfortably.

Cyri stared at Snowpaw and Half for a few heartbeats. Snowpaw was a pure white cat - except that her ears were grey where they tapered into points. She was a lot larger than Cyri and Half, but Cyri thought that she was beautiful.

Half was a white cat, too. However, there were a few large black spots littering his back and haunches.

Cyri wondered what she looked like. Maybe _she_ would be white like her mother, she thought excitedly. Spurred on at the prospect of being as pretty as her mother, Cyri turned around in cirles, trying to catch sight of her pelt. However, all that happened was that she ended up dizzying herself. With an ungraceful _thump_, Cyri landed, legs splayed, on the ground.

"Ouch." Her voice came out in a high-pitched squeak as she scrambled to her paws. Cyri twitched her nose - it had landed in the dirt, and was now covered with earth. She sniffed it - it smelled of plants and trees and small creatures.

Then she sneezed - some soil had got up her nose.

She still wasn't any closer to finding out what she looked like, Cyri realised. She looked down - all she could see were her paws. _They_ were white - Cyri felt a flicker of excitement before seeing that the white colour faded into a pale grey, speckled with darker flecks, on her front legs.

Cyri sighed. Maybe she _wasn't_ a white cat like Snowpaw. This wasn't a cheering thought. She wished that she was pure white. She wished that Snowpaw and Half would wake up.

A leaf fluttered down from one of the trees. Cyri watched it fall in awe. As it brushed the ground, Cyri took a couple of tentative steps foward and prodded it with one paw. Then she stepped back hurriedly - maybe it would bite her, or something.

Nothing happened.

Cyri edged closer again. She reached out with one paw and poked it again, but this time, something snagged it. Now the leaf seemed to be stuck to Cyri's paw. Fearful that it was angry with her, Cyri bolted back to her nest. But then she realised that the leaf was _still_ sticking to her paw. She waved the paw, trying to dislodge the leaf, but it just flapped feebly.

_Maybe I killed it!_ thought Cyri in fear. She brought her paw to her face and inspected it closely. There was something sharp poking out of the leaf. Maybe it was attaching itself to Cyri with that.

Gingerly, in case it attacked her, Cyri took the leaf in her jaws and pulled. There was a slight tearing sound, and the leaf flopped limply onto the ground. It was broken down the middle.

_I think I really did kill it,_ thought the kit guiltily. Her fur burning with shame, she quickly pushed debris from the ground over the 'dead' leaf. Then, mainly so she wouldn't have to think of the 'murder' she had just committed, she stared at her paw. The sharp thing was still in her paw, just above the pink pad. In fact, there were _more _of them, which she hadn't seen before. For a second, she felt a little panicky, before she realised - _she had claws_.

Just to make sure that her theory was correct, Cyri tried unsheathing her claws. It worked - she felt them sinking into the earth. She sheathed them again.

A purr rolled out of her jaws. It was shortly followed by a wide yawn.

Cyri realised that she was tired. And her mother's white fur looked so cosy and relaxing...

Vaguely surprised at how quickly the fatigue had taken over her, Cyri settled down in the nest, her downy fur brushing Half's and Snowpaw's. She wrapped her tail around her paws, a half formed thought that it was grey and speckled with darker flecks chasing around her mind for a heartbeat, before her eyes closed.

She had made herself dizzy, scented the earth, found out the colour of her paws, killed a leaf and found her claws.

Within heartbeats, Cyri was fast asleep.

**Okay, that was a bit of an opener chapter. It didn't really do much, but it introduced you to the main characters. Next chapter we'll see a bit more action.**


	4. Two

**Thanks to xXStarless NightXx, Brightspirit, Wildpelt, thundercat29r, Neko Nials, starpaw, allygirl56, and Moonstreak1 for reviewing! I'm glad you all liked it ^.^**

Two

"Wow..." Cyri stared breathlessly down at the pool of clear water. Reflected in it was a small grey cat with flecks of darker grey littering her fur. The grey cat had pure white paws and a white chest. Her eyes were amber.

Half trotted up to stand next to her. In the pool of water, there appeared a cat who was the spitting image of Half, right down to the exact size and shape of the spots, and his amber eyes.

"Are they really _us_, Snowpaw?" Half asked excitedly.

Snowpaw gave a purr of amusement, though Cyri noticed that it sounded a little strained. "Of course they are. You'll see your reflection in every puddle of water."

"That's amazing!" Cyri's voice was hushed. She had hoped that she had blue eyes, like Snowpaw, but she wasn't too upset with the amber colour. After all, now she and Half matched. "I'll never forget this moment, until I die!"

For a second, something in Snowpaw's eyes flickered. A dark look came into her blue eyes for a heartbeat, but then she quickly steadied herself. "O-of course." She gazed warmly upon her kits again, but Cyri realised that her heart was beating rather faster than usual.

She may have only been alive for three days, but Cyri felt, for the first time, scared of her mother.

***

Cyri was trembling with a definite fear now. She didn't have a clue what was going on, only that she and Half were stranded, alone, in the middle of the forest, and Snowpaw was padding away from them.

"Mother!" Her voice sounded thin, pleading, and desperate.

"Snowpaw!" Half wailed. He took two pawsteps after the white she-cat, but then tripped on a tree root and gave a cry as he landed in the dirt.

Snowpaw looked around. Her teeth were bared in a terrifying snarl and her fur was fluffed up. Even though she was several foxlengths away, Cyri shrank back in terror. A battle of what looked like anger and sadness was taking place in her eyes.

"I can't... take it..." Her voice was strained and choked. "You're too much... like... Pepper."

And then she whipped her head around and bolted.

"Wh-where..." Half was shaking. "What...?"

Cyri couldn't answer. It had been four moons ago that she had felt the strange rush of fear from looking at Snowpaw. It seemed that the initial fear had not been baseless after all... But Cyri just wanted her mother. And seeing her in that state was a memory that was going to stay with her forever. It was never going to leave her. Cyri shivered.

"C-Cyri...?" Half's mew was small and timid. "Wh-what are we going to do?"

_Maybe she's just gone to get us some food,_ Cyri reassured herself. She ran this theory past Half, who looked slightly appeased.

"Yes..." He nodded his head vigorously. "You're smart, Cyri."

"Thanks."

A chill wind ruffled Cyri's kit-soft fur. She shivered, and and pressed herself close to Half. He was no warmer than she was, but at least there was the comfort of being close to her brother. Half seemed to feel the same way - he flicked his ears and lay down. Cyri copied him.

They would just have to wait, that was all. Just wait until she came back...

Cyri didn't know when she fell asleep, but all she remembered was Half shaking her awake.

"Cyri!" he moaned. "Wake up!"

It was the frightened tone of his voice that jerked Cyri back into the waking world. She was staring into Half's scared amber eyes.

"What?" she asked, fearful of what was coming. Half's eyes were now fixed on a point somewhere beyond Cyri.

And now Cyri could smell a terrible stench. It smelt like something dead that had rotted and decayed... with a tang of _blood_.

Cyri jumped around. A sleek, sandy furred creature with a bushy, white-tipped tail and a narrow muzzle was staring at them. Its dark, hungry eyes were glittering greedily, and it bared its sharp yellow teeth.

"What is it?" Cyri squeaked.

"I don't know, but I don't think it's friendly!" Half whispered back.

The creature began to prowl towards them, its eyes fixed firmly on Half.

"It's staring at me!" wailed Half. "I don't like it!"

And it snapped. The creature pounced. Acting purely on instinct, Cyri pulled her brother out of the way, and the creature's jaws snapped shut on mid air - exactly where Half's throat had been a moment before.

But this seemed to do nothing but anger it. It lurched forward, aiming for Cyri this time - and this time its aim as true. Cyri's left front paw was caught inside the creature's jaws. It was absolute agony - Cyri could feel the pointed teeth sinking into her delicate pad, ripping away the pink flesh. Cyri could tell that she was losing blood. She tried to unsheathe her claws, at least cause a bit of damage, but she had lost all control of her paw. All she could feel was pain. Pain. Pain.

She was gritting her teeth to stop herself from crying out. And Half was staring at the scene, his eyes wider than Cyri had ever seen them.

And, more than anything, Cyri wanted her mother.


	5. Three

**Thanks to Spottedtalon, Ryuchie, xXStarless NightXx, Wildpelt, Emberheart0, allygirl56, Neko Nials wildstar12, and xXLeopardusXx for reviewing!**

Three

"C-C-Cyri!" whimpered Half.

Cyri couldn't answer - the pain in her paw was too much. She screwed up her eyes.

Suddenly, she heard fast pawsteps on the ground. Her eyes flew open - for a heartbeat, she had thought that Snowpaw had come back, but it was Half.

Half leaped. He barrelled into the sandy creature, but he was so tiny that it only irritated it. Snapping in annoyance, the creature released Cyri's paw. With a moan of pain, Cyri fell to the ground. Her breathing laboured, she looked at her paw. It was hardly _recognisable_ as her paw - bloody and mangled, it looked almost detached from her leg. Cyri whimpered, the pain seeming to double.

But now the narrow-muzzled creature had turned on Half. He dodged one of the hits, but the creature was faster, and stronger... not to mention a lot bigger.

"Half!" shrieked Cyri. Half glanced over at his sister, double-taking as he caught sight of the state of her paw.

"_Cyri_!" he gasped. Their eyes, amber on amber, locked.

He hesitated a heartbeat too long.

The creature lunged. There was a sickening crunch as his spine snapped. Cyri's eyes widened as her brother's eyes dulled.

And, Cyri was only a kit, after all. Barely four moons old.

The pain in her paw combined with the heartbreak of her mother dying, and now this...

Cyri passed out.

***

Murmurs. Mumblings. A blur of colour. And a throbbing pain...

Cyri groaned. Through her half-closed lids, she could make out the bright shape of something ginger... like a brand of fire. Cyri was still aware of the ache she could feel. She winced as she felt something damp being applied to it. It stung like fury. Trying to peer through the gloom, Cyri groggily tried to remember the events of recently.

"Half!" A cry escaped her lips as she remembered what had caused the pain. She writhed around, her limbs flailing. She needed to find Half, or, at the very least, Snowpaw. If there was the slimmest chance that Half was still alive...

"Hey!" Cyri became aware of an annoyed voice speaking to her. "Excuse me, but would you mind keeping still? I'm trying to fix your paw."

Cyri struggled to make out what was talking to her. If only it was another cat... She wanted nothing more than to be nursed by a loving queen. She wanted to snuggle into their belly and forget about everything that had happened to her. But, life didn't always work out her way, it seemed.

Slowly, gradually, her vision sharpened into greater detail and focus. She was in some sort of low-roofed cave. There were moss and ferns strewn around her, and a skinny ginger cat was leaning over her. The kit immediately smelled that it was a tom.

But who was it? Cyri didn't know. This ginger cat's dark green eyes were sharp with a mixture of concern and irritation, and his tail was flicking back and forth.

Cyri was afraid. She tried to scramble up, but pain lanced up her left leg. She looked down at it, fully expecting to see the contorted and revolting mess that had led to her brother's death. But her paw... what had been left of her paw was _gone_. Cyri stared in shock. Where her paw had been before, there was now a stump, bandaged tightly in sticky white spider webs.

Cyri bit her lip, trying to stop the cry of pain and loss leaving her. What had happened to her paw? Where had it gone? Cyri looked up at the cat, no longer caring whether his intentions were friendly.

"I'm sorry." His mew was sympathetic. "It was beyond repair, really. And you didn't feel anything... I bit it off as carefully as I could..."

"I..." Cyri faltered.

"Russetstar wasn't happy about taking you in," the ginger cat confessed, "but I persuaded her that the warrior code stated that we must..."

"The..." The ginger cat's words weren't helping Cyri understand what was going on - by all means, they were getting her more confused.

"My name is Flamefur," the ginger cat mewed, by way of introduction. "I'm the medicine cat of ShadowClan. I assume you're not from one of the forest Clans?" He stared at her closely.

Cyri nodded, without a clue what he was talking about.

"You lived alone?" pressed Flamefur. "Apart from other cats?"

"Well, there was my mother and brother, but..." Cyri swallowed, not wanting to discuss it.

Flamefur's tail swished back and forth. "I see." His voice was sympathetic again. "Is that how you got...?" He flicked his ears towards Cyri's paw.

Cyri nodded mutely. But all she could think about was Half.

_If he hadn't seen my paw..._ she thought, a burning shame filling her. It was like the leaf, from all those moons ago, but worse - so much worse. _He would never have hesitated... and then... then he wouldn't have died..._ She wanted to yowl out in guilt. _It's all my fault!_

"You don't look that old..." Flamefur was saying thoughtfully.

"I'm four moons," said Cyri. It came out as a terrified, mouse-like squeak.

"Four moons... Hmm..." Flamefur blinked. "That's the same age as Silverstripe's kits..."

As if on cue, a golden-brown she-kit, about the same age as Cyri herself, came rushing into the den.

"Flamefur!" she gasped. "Is she awake yet?"

Flamefur twitched his tail towards Cyri, and nodded.

The golden kit stared at Cyri, her eyes large. "Are you the loner?" she whispered.

Cyri bit her lip. She didn't particularly like being singled out as 'the loner'. But she nodded nonetheless. "Yes. My name's Cyri."

"Sigh-reeeee..." The kit tried to twist her tongue into saying this new word. She blinked. "I'm Lionkit."

"Lionkit wants to be my apprentice when she leaves the nursery," Flamefur put in.

Thinking it was best not to ask questions, Cyri just nodded.

"Seeing your paw getting cut off was _fascinating_," said Lionkit eagerly. Then, at the look on Cyri's face, she stopped. "Oh." Her face fell. "Sorry. I suppose you don't want to talk about it?"

"You could say that," muttered Cyri, turning away with her fur prickling uncomfortably. For two mousetails she would have run into the forest, wailing for her mother... only, her leg was still painful. She looked at Flamefur. "How am I supposed to _walk_?"

"Ah." Now Flamefur was the one looking uncomfortable. "Well, we'll have to teach you to walk on three legs. It shouldn't be hard..." He tailed off.

But Cyri had seen Flamefur and Lionkit exchange a very shifty glance.

**Sigh... I can never manage to write something non-angsty, can I? Well, I can pretty much promise that that's the bulk of the angstiness over and done with. I hope... Unless something really depressing sneaks up on me and infects my story.**


	6. Four

**Thanks to StarlessSnowfire, allygirl56, Spottedtalon, and Wildpelt for reviewing!**

Four

The situation was a mess.

Cyri was shaking again, with terror this time. She didn't know how she'd be able to learn to walk on _three_ paws. Wasn't she made to have four? Surely, surely she couldn't live with only three...

But before she could contemplate this any further, a shadow fell over the entrance to the den. Flamefur's stance became straighter, more upright, as his eyes were fixed on the she-cat that now entered.

She was a sleek, lithe cat, with dark ginger fur. Her dark green eyes were sharp and searching, and something about the way she held herself told Cyri that she was the one to be listened to, and obeyed.

"She's awake?" the cat shot at Flamefur. Flamefur gave a brisk nod.

"She is, Russetstar."

Russetstar turned her scrutinising eyes on Cyri, who flinched. Her eyes fell on the stump that used to be Cyri's paw.

"Her paw..." Russetstar murmured, her eyes not leaving it. Cyri wished that she would look away. She was very self-conscious.

"It couldn't be fixed, Russetstar," mewed Flamefur softly. "There was no way..."

"Hmm." Russetstar blinked and turned to Flamefur. Cyri let out a silent sigh of relief. "So, is she healed now?"

"Well..." Flamefur looked distinctly alarmed. "I suppose, but..."

"Good." Russetstar nodded. "She can go, then?"

"Go?"

"Well, she can't be a burden on ShadowClan, can she?"

"But she can't walk!" piped up Lionkit in indignation.

"Shush," hissed Flamefur reprovingly. Luckily, it seemed Russetstar had not heard the kit. She was already padding out of the den.

"Where's she going?" Lionkit's whiskers flicked in worry.

"Who _is_ she?" asked Cyri, wide-eyed.

Lionkit turned to Cyri. "That's Russetstar," she explained. "She's the leader of our whole Clan - you have to obey everything she says, otherwise she can punish you."

Cyri let out a little squeak of fear. If she had the power to make cats do as she said... Was Cyri going to be kicked out of this place on three paws? So far, things had begun to look up for her - Flamefur and Lionkit at least had seemed friendly - but Russetstar didn't look all too pleased to see her.

"Hmm." Flamefur's eyes had darkened at Lionkit's words. "She may have the power of a Clan leader, but even leaders have to listen to their medicine cat."

He motioned for Lionkit and Cyri to follow him with his tail, and then he marched out of the den.

Lionkit and Cyri looked at each other.

"Lean against me," suggested Lionkit. "It'll help you keep your balance."

"Good idea." Cyri managed a nod. She leaned against the golden-furred she-kit, keeping her maimed leg sticking straight out in front of her, and hopped three-legged out of the den, Lionkit supporting her.

Cyri had emerged into a dark, well-concealed hollow, surrounded by dense pine trees with slippery trunks. The ground was damp and marshy, but yet pleasantly cool and soothing on Cyri's remaining pads. Around the hollow, there were more, small dens, from which cats were emerging. They all looked lean, hungry, and, to Cyri, downright scary.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join here under the Darkrock for a Clan meeting!"

Cyri's head whipped around as she recognised the mew as Russetstar's. The powerful she-cat was standing on top of a large boulder, a cold breeze rippling the short fur on her pelt.

"Uh oh," muttered Flamefur. He squeezed past a brown tabby she-cat and a long-furred back tom hastily, knocking them and causing the tom to make a noise of annoyance. "Oh - sorry, Darkblaze, sorry, Mothfrost," apologised the medicine cat quickly, before darting closer to where Russetstar stood.

"Cats of ShadowClan," yowled Russetstar. "You all know of the molested kit we found on the border two sunrises ago?" There was a murmur of general assent. "She has now awakened, but Flamefur has had to amputate her front left paw."

All the cats' heads flicked to Cyri, who trembled under their gazes. Then, like a single-bodied wave, their heads turned back to Russetstar. A young grey-and-white she-cat whispered something to her friend, a jet-black tom. The tom's lip curled.

Russetstar was speaking again. "I have come to the conclusion that ShadowClan has offered its services to this rogue," she mewed. "Therefore, she will leave the camp at sunhigh today." Russetstar glanced at the blue sky. The sun was steadily climbing, but it had not yet reached its peak.

There was another mutter of agreement, but then Flamefur spoke up.

"Russetstar, as your medicine cat, I am telling you that you can't," he mewed firmly. "This kit needs rest - she can't properly walk yet, look at the way she's leaning against Lionkit!"

Embarrassment radiated off Lionkit in waves - she looked away and muttered something that Cyri couldn't hear.

"That's not ShadowClan's problem!" snapped Russetstar.

"Russetstar!" exploded Flamefur. "If we kick her out now, she'll just get attacked by a fox, or something! There will have been no point in our saving her in the first place!"

"Fox..." whispered Cyri. "What's a fox?"

"It's a big thing," Lionkit whispered back. "It's got sandy fur and a narrow muzzle, and a big bushy tail. My mother says that it smells like blood." She shivered.

Cyri drew in her breath sharply. That... _thing_... that had killed Half... Had that been a fox?

Images flashed up in her mind of the fox clamping its jaws around her paw... of the dulled look in Half's eyes... of the moment when Half's backbone snapped cleanly, killing him.

She stared at her left front leg, giving an involuntary shudder. "I don't think I like foxes."


	7. Five

**Thanks to allygirl56, Elizabeth-chan, Spottedtalon, Ryuchie, and Wildpelt for reviewing!**

Five

Trying to banish the image of the fox - if that was what it had been - out of her mind, Cyri focused her attention back onto what Russetstar and Flamefur were saying.

"May I remind you of the warrior code, Russetstar?" asked Flamefur delicately. His eyes were blazing. "'No warrior may neglect a kit in trouble, even if that kit is not from the warrior's Clan'. A piece of the code that _you_, Russetstar, seem to have forgotten."

An elderly ginger tom shifted uncomfortably where he sat. He exchanged an uneasy glance with an equally elderly, but smaller, brown tom.

"I think we should help," he spoke up. The heads of all the cats whipped around to the ginger tom. "It's true that this kit isn't a ShadowClan kit... but now, what I'm thinking is this; if one of our kits wandered away, wouldn't _we_ want another Clan to be merciful and help it?"

He shot a glance at a cream-furred she-cat. She had the scent of milk on her, and a tiny tortoiseshell kit peered out from behind her.

"I'd never want anything to happen to my granddaughter," the ginger tom went on softly.

The cream-furred she-cat nodded. "You're right, father. I..." She stared at her kit for a heartbeat. "Sorrelkit means everything to me now."

Flamefur's eyes were still blazing with the strange passion. He dipped his head to the elderly tom. "Thank you, father. And Dawnbreeze."

Russetstar was still looking at the ginger tom who was Flamefur's father. "Rowanclaw..." she started. "You... you were my deputy. I... I take your opinion seriously, and you know that."

"I do."

Cyri didn't have the faintest clue what was going on. All she knew was that Russetstar didn't look nearly as hard and terrifying as she had done a few moments ago.

Russetstar looked around. "Who else agrees with Rowanclaw?" she yowled.

A dark brown tabby tom dipped his head. "I'll agree with anything my father says," he rumbled. "We should give her a chance. And I've never known my brother to be wrong yet."

"I appreciate that, Tigerheart," murmured Flamefur quietly.

The elderly brown tom also nodded. "I'll agree - this once."

And now there was a tortoiseshell she-cat pressing herself against Rowanclaw's side. "You know that I'll always support you," she murmured. Rowanclaw licked the top of her head affectionately.

Cyri blinked. Was this what she thought it was? Were these cats actually trying _not_ to get her thrown out of this place? Cyri's spirits rose slightly.

But there seemed to be some cats who didn't share this opinion.

"Hang on." A black and white tom furrowed his brow. "She's a rogue. Rogues don't follow the warrior code - she's not Clanborn. Why should we have to help her?"

"Crowfrost-"

"No, I'm just being honest." Crowfrost cut Flamefur off. His green eyes flashed.

A dark grey tom with paler patches blinked slowly. "He's right, actually. Doesn't the warrior code exempt rogues, loners and kittypets?"

"Cloudheart, be quiet," snapped Tigerheart sharply. "You were only made a warrior half a moon ago."

The grey and white she-cat who had been whispering earlier spoke up. "But me and Jaypaw don't want it, either," she mewed, motioning towards the black tom.

_It_. Cyri shuddered. They were talking about her like she was an inanimate object.

Lionkit seemed to notice her unease. "Don't worry, it'll be fine." She flicked her whiskers reassuringly.

Dawnbreeze was talking now.

"For StarClan's sake, she's a _kit_," she mewed, her tone exasperated. "What harm will she do?"

"She'll sit about in camp, eating all of our prey!" shot back a grey she-cat with black paws, her eyes narrowed. "If we take her in, we'll become as bad as Firestar used to be, recruiting kittypets left, right, and centre!"

"_Silence_!" Russetstar spat, her eyes glittering. The bickering group of cats fell quiet. Russetstar let the noiselessness spiral horribly before speaking again. "We will give her one moon. One moon, in which she will be fully the responsibility of Flamefur, Tawnypelt, Oakfur, Rowanclaw, Dawnbreeze, and Tigerheart. They must do all the hunting for her, teach her to walk, and fetch her clean bedding and water. After one moon exactly, she will leave and never return to ShadowClan territory. Are we agreed?" Her eyes gleamed, as though daring them to ask for more time.

Flamefur dipped his head. "All right," he mewed. "One moon."


	8. Six

**Thanks to xXStarless NightXx, Lucy Rell, starpaw, Brightspirit, New Prophecy, allygirl56, Wildwaters, Ryuchie, and Spottedtalon for reviewing!**

Six

"You have to start to try and walk now, Cyri."

"But... But I..." Cyri's eyes were round with fear as she stared up at Flamefur and Lionkit.

Two days had passed since Russetstar had agreed to shelter Cyri. Cyri had spent them in the medicine cats' den, doing just about nothing. Neither Silverstripe nor Dawnbreeze had wanted to nurse her - although Dawnbreeze was one of the cats fighting for her to stay in the first place. This had worried Cyri - were the cats who had actually fought for her to stay acting under some sort of façade?

"Seriously, Cyri." There was a note of urgency in Flamefur's mew. "We only have a moon. Tawnypelt and Rowanclaw are willing to help today, but we really need to get that paw sorted."

Lionkit nodded seriously. "Yes. You need to be able to survive in the wild."

These words made Cyri feel very small. Suddenly, Lionkit seemed so much older and wiser than she was.

She glanced at her paw. It was so horrible, and fleshy... it looked even worse now that Flamefur had removed the bandages. Cyri felt revolted just looking at it. Much more, it reminded of her of Half.

She was utterly convinced that it was entirely her fault that he had died. His dying moments had been invading Cyri's dreams. She kept waking up in the middle of the night after replaying Half's death, trying to get up to have a short walk outside so that she could calm down, and then remembering that she couldn't stand up, let alone walk, and cursing her paw.

It was her paw, all her paw.

But it was the only reminder she had of Half... and Snowpaw.

"I... can't." Cyri's mew was broken and whispered.

"What? Why?" There was a bite of impatiance lingering in Flamefur's mew. But then, recovering, he seemed to remember that he was speaking to a kit of four moons. His mew was gentler as he said, "Cyri, I know that it must have been really traumatising losing your paw... especially so young."

But Cyri didn't want to be treated like a mousebrain. She shook her head firmly. "You don't know! Stop speaking like you _know_!" It was supposed to come out strong and angry, but, to Cyri's embarrassement, it ended up sounding whiny and pathetic.

Lionkit sat down. Her tail swished from side to side - not in annoyance, but in a genuine interest. "Cyri..." She hesitated for a heartbeat, a question burning in her eyes, before plunging on. "How _did_ you... you know..." She twitched her whiskers towards the mangled remain of Cyri's paw.

"Lose my paw?" Cyri stared at the ground, completing the question in a quiet whisper. She expected Flamefur to tell Lionkit off for being so intrusive, but when she glanced up, Flamefur looked just as tentatively eager as his soon-to-be apprentice.

Cyri sighed, feeling an unusual weight - not a physical weight, but something much more - slip into her stomach.

"I'll... tell you," she murmured eventually. "If you tell me about the Clans." She was longing to know about this strange world that she seemed to have landed herself into.

"Of course," agreed Lionkit, in a flash. Cyri looked up - Lionkit was sitting up straight, keenly attentive. "We'll tell you everything."

Cyri gave a single nod. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay. Once... once I had a mother." It sounded strange to her own ears as she said it, but Flamefur and Lionkit made no interruption, so she pressed on. It seemed easier to keep going now that she had started. "She was... really pretty. She had white fur... and blue eyes - I wanted blue eyes - and the tips of her ears were grey. I loved her, but one day, there was something about her that just scared me. It..."

She shuddered.

"She took me and my brother to the middle of the forest. We didn't know what was happening. I remember... Half was really scared. My brother. She left us there... alone. And... she had to come back... but... she didn't... and..." Cyri gave a harsh gasp as a pain hit her chest. She screwed up her eyes, but that just made images, sharp as though she was actually seeing them, flash through her mind.

Snowpaw... Half... the look in her eyes... the fox...

And then, Cyri remembered what Snowpaw had caterwauled before leaving them.

_I can't... take it... You're too much... like... Pepper._

"Pepper?" muttered Cyri, her head spinning. Who or what was Pepper? And why was she like 'Pepper'? And Half, too...

This 'Pepper' was the reason that Snowpaw had abandoned Cyri and Half, Cyri realised. Her body shook with emotion.

"C-Cyri?" asked Lionkit timidly.

Cyri was jerked swiftly back to reality.

"What happened?"

Lionkit's voice sounded so small, so vunerable, that Cyri could barely believe that she had felt younger than her.

"There was a fox - at least, I think it was a fox," Cyri replied tonelessly, returning her gaze to the ground. Her bed, which was where she was lying, really wasn't all that interesting, but she didn't think that she could stand to look at the expression in Lionkit's eyes any more. "It did this to me." She flicked her ears towards her paw. "It killed Half."

There was silence. Cyri's words seemed to ring around the medicine cats' den and rebound back inside her mind, beating the inside of her head.

_It did this to me. It killed Half._

Saying it so bluntly seemed to make it so much worse. Suddenly, Cyri didn't want eyes staring upon her sympathetically.

"You need to leave now."

Flamefur didn't object to being pushed out of his own den. He just nodded and ushered Lionkit away, who didn't make a sound.

They were gone. And Cyri had never felt more alone.

She realised that she was shaking again. How odd.

_It did this to me. It killed Half._

_I can't... take it... You're too much... like... Pepper._

_Pepper_.

Cyri's mind seared with longing to know who this 'Pepper' was. She wanted to find him, to ask what relation he had had to Snowpaw...

But for that, she needed to walk.

And to walk, she needed...

"Flamefur." Cyri murmured.

Her mind was made up. Souvenir of Half's existance or not, Cyri needed full use of her three remaining paws.

And, with thoughts of the imaginary 'Pepper' clouding her mind, Cyri drifted into an uneasy sleep.

**Okay, I might not be updating as much as usual lately. Reason - the Christmas holidays are starting in two days, and this is either going to result in a massive updating spree, or it might result in laziness.**

**Oh, and did I say that the angst was done? Guess I was wrong ;P But Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake was the inspiration (seriously, I've been listening to it on loop since I began writing this chapter) and that song is kind of depressing. Good, though.**


	9. Seven

**Thanks to xXStarless NightXx, Spottedtalon, NewProphecy, allygirl56, starpaw, Ryuchie, and Wildpelt for reviewing!**

**DISCLAIMER: I haven't done a disclaimer in a while. I feel bad... I don't own ANYTHING mentioned here.**

Seven

Tawnypelt turned out to be the tortoiseshell she-cat who had been with Rowanclaw. Cyri found this out while she was leaning against her, trying to walk as best she could. Tawnypelt was trying to distract her by telling her about her life.

"I didn't think that they were treating me like I was _me_," she was explaining. "That's why I ran away. My brother was devastated, of course..."

Cyri was deeply shocked. For a moment, she felt like a normal kit listening to her mother telling her a story again. This thought made her fur prickle with sadness. Tawnypelt smelled warm, and motherly - even distinctly like the nursery, even though she was an elder of the Clan.

The small kit took another stumbling step forward. Forgetting that her paw was gone, she unconsciously put her weight onto the leg with the missing paw, and tripped. Tawnypelt shifted her position quickly so that she was able to catch her. Cyri twitched her ears gratefully as Tawnypelt pushed her up.

"Thanks," she muttered, steadying herself against Tawnypelt's front leg. She felt a stirring of jealousy that Tawnypelt still had full use of all four legs, despite her age. But she blinked, and the feeling was gone.

"Why don't we finish for today?" Tawnypelt suggested. Her eyes shone with encouragement. "You're making a great improvement. Flamefur will be pleased."

Cyri twisted her head around to see how far they had walked. The sun was bleeding into the tops of the spiny pine trees, and the sky was a sunset yellow. They were about halfway around the ShadowClan camp, near the nursery. Cyri was happy with her progress, and confident that she was one step closer to finding Pepper.

She glanced into the nursery. Lionkit and her brother and sister, Thistlekit and Sandkit, were asleep, nestled into their mother's belly. Silverstripe, too, was asleep, apparently worn out by her fiesty kits. Even as Cyri watched, the silver coloured tom, Thistlekit, wriggled around and shifted his position, opening his eyes briefly to give a huge yawn.

For a heartbeat, Cyri knew an overwhelming urge to be with them, snuggled into a warm, milk-scented mother, fur brushing against her siblings. She didn't _want_ to be the carrier of this horrible burden, witness to her own brother's death. She didn't _want _to have to slowly, torturously learn to walk on three paws, so that she could try and find someone that had made her own mother abandon her. And she especially _didn't want_ to be the only one left in her family.

Tawnypelt seemed to notice her sudden mood change.

"You can stay here for a while, if you'd like," she mewed, in a would-be offhand way.

Cyri nodded. She flicked her tail. Both of them knew full well that Cyri just wanted to be near the nursery, although Tawnypelt felt sympathy rather than sadness as she padded away to the elders' den.

Awkwardly, owing to her paw, Cyri lay down and curled her tail by her side. She yawned, just like Thistlekit had done. It had been a tiring day for her.

As Cyri turned her head to watch the sunset better, she heard whispered mews behind her. Curiously, Cyri turned again to see a tortoiseshell kit with a white chest and paws scrambling out of the nursery. A few moments later, she recognised her as Dawnbreeze's kit.

"Hi." The kit was smaller than Cyri - it made her feel pleasantly mature.

"Hi," replied Cyri. The kit seemed friendly - she was making her way over to her, sparing a quick glance over her shoulder to check that her mother wasn't awake.

"Do you want to play with me?" asked the kit hopefully, swishing her tail from side to side.

This is what Cyri had wanted - a chance to break free of her dark life and just _play_ with another kit. She was about to spring up and eagerly agree, but then she remembered her paw. She couldn't possibly play-fight with a stump instead of a fourth paw. It just wasn't _possible_ - she couldn't even walk.

"I... I can't." Cyri hated how snobbish her voice sounded. It sounded like she was looking down on the smaller kit.

"Oh." The light left the kit's eyes.

"It's... it's because of my paw!" mewed Cyri wildly, trying to right the wrong she had just made. "I can't even walk without another cat helping me."

The kit's eyes flickered to Cyri's mangled paw. She looked shocked. "It's... not very nice," she said eventually.

Cyri winced.

"You have an ugly paw," the kit went on, not aware of what her words were inflicting on Cyri.

"Sorrelkit!" A sharp voice carried from the nursery. Dawnbreeze was standing at the entrance, her eyes flashing. "You didn't ask permission, did you?"

"Uh oh." Sorrelkit ducked her head in submission. "I've got to go." She quickly scrambled back to the nursery, her four paws pattering on the smooth ground. Cyri envied how quickly she could move.

She watched as Sorrelkit was herded back into the nursery, being scolded by Dawnbreeze. Cyri's heart lurched in sadness that cats thought that she had 'an ugly paw'.

She hadn't thought of it that way. It was horrible, and Cyri flinched every time she or anyone else looked at it, but still, to hear it said so bluntly...

Cyri realised that she still hadn't found the source of the whispering. She looked over at a den next to the nursery. She could faintly see the shape of a black tom and a grey-and-white she-cat, sitting just inside it. They looked a lot older than her, but still not as old as Flamefur and most of the others. Then something clicked - they were the cats who had called her 'it'.

The grey-and-white she-cat seemed to notice that Cyri was looking at her.

"Oh, look, Jaypaw," she mewed loudly, with the obvious intention of Cyri hearing. "It's... _it_."

"_It_," Jaypaw repeated. His voice was unpleasant and nasally. "_It_ doesn't have Clan blood. Why's Russetstar putting up with _it,_ again, Frostpaw?"

Their words struck harder than Sorrelkit's ever had. Cyri's eyes widened. They were talking about her as though she didn't exist. Again.

"_I_ don't know," Frostpaw sniffed. "It's the most disgusting creature I've ever seen. It can't fend for itself. It eats up all our resources. It takes up the time of our valuble Clan members. I'm missing out on time with my mentor because of _it_. And it's not exactly a sight to behold."

"You've got that one right," snorted Jaypaw, his eyes glinting.

Cyri tensed. She couldn't even move, because there was no one there to help her. She just had to listen to their vindictive comments dig deeper, and deeper, and deeper...

Cyri closed her eyes and thought of her mother. She shuddered.


	10. Eight

**Thanks to Emberheart0, NewProphecy, StarlessSnowfire, Spottedtalon, allygirl56, starpaw, Wildpelt, Penmaster51, and Ryuchie for reviewing! Thanks so much, people! I've got to 66 reviews!! Since it's Christmas in five days (o.O FIVE..!) I don't think I'll be updating any more after this until after the New Year. Plus, I'm suffering from the slightest bit of... gulp... writer's block. That's why this chapter is so short. Anyway, merry Christmas, everyone!**

**DISCLAIMER: Don't own. Are you happy, crazed companies that like to sue people?**

Eight

Cyri lay awake in her nest, her paw sticking out at an awkward angle. From where she was, she could see Flamefur's bright ginger flank rising and falling rhythmically as he slept deeply. Outside the den, the cold, clear moon cast its light onto the smooth ground, turning it silver.

The young she cat turned over so that she could see the sky. It was a cloudless night, and through the trees, Cyri could see hundreds of stars. The moon hung like a shining disc among them. It was a beautiful night, and in a happier time Cyri's eyes would have been round with wonder.

But as it was, she hardly saw the magnificence of the scene. Her mind was on two young apprentices.

_It's the most disgusting creature I've ever seen. It can't fend for itself. It eats up all our resources. It takes up the time of our valuble Clan members. I'm missing out on time with my mentor because of it. And it's not exactly a sight to behold._

Cyri shivered. Worse, she was starting to believe that it was true. She wasn't doing anything to help the cats who were sheltering her - in fact, she was doing quite the opposite. She was eating the prey that they caught... and she couldn't even help them do _anything_...

Cyri curled up into a tighter ball, hating her life. No, she didn't hate her life - she hated _herself _for being so useless. Useless... and, in effect, a murderer.

Unable to bear the tension any longer, Cyri uncurled her tail and flexed her two back legs. Carefully, and sticking her injured leg straight out in front of her, she wobbled into an upright position. Trying with every ounce of the determination she possessed to stay in this position, Cyri gently lowered her injured leg downwards, until it was almost touching the ground. If her paw had been there, she would have been standing normally.

In a remarkable change of emotion, Cyri now felt quite different from the miserable kit she had been a few heartbeats ago. On the contrary, she felt close to ecstatic. She was standing - actually _standing_ without support from Flamefur or Tawnypelt or Lionkit or anyone else. Cyri let out a tiny _mrrowl_ of delight, and, not thinking, lifted her front paw from the ground as she turned to groom herself.

With an ungainly _thud_, Cyri's shoulders hit the ground.

"Ouch." Spitting out a mouthful of dust, Cyri tried to scramble to her paws. It was difficult with only three. Tail thrashing wildly, Cyri fell onto her side. Flicking her whiskers in an annoyed way, Cyri decided that she was going to stand up again, if it took until sunrise.

_It can't fend for itself_.

"Oh, yes it can," Cyri muttered, unsheathing her claws into the ground. To her immense surprise and relief, her claws helped her get a better grip on the soft ground. Keeping her claws firmly in the ground, she tottered to her paws again.

If it hadn't been the middle of the night, Cyri would have yowled in victory. She couldn't believe how much she had accomplished in the short time she had actually _tried_ to forget how 'useless' she was.

_I'm _not_ useless_, she thought. The thought came with a surge of warmth in the pit of her belly. She glanced outside again.

And this time she saw how beautiful the night was.


	11. Nine

**Thanks to Ryuchie, Spottedtalon, NewProphecy, Emberheart0, Penmaster51, allygirl56, Wolfgaze, xXStarless NightXx, and starpaw for reviewing! So, did everyone have a good Christmas? And guess what - it's 2010. 0.0 IT'S 2010!! Do you say two-thousand-and-ten or twenty-ten? I say twenty-ten...**

**...I'll shut up.**

**DISCLAIMER: No. No. No. No. No. No. What was that? Oh, sorry. NO!!**

Nine

The sun had risen six times since Cyri had first stood up without help. Flamefur had been delighted. Russetstar had not been so much so.

"Standing is one thing that kits should _all_ be able to do from birth," she had mewed disdainfully, her lip curling. "If I don't see more improvement, I'm afraid that she won't have long to live."

Cyri's face had fallen - wasn't it enough? Flamefur had quickly hurried the three-legged kit away, but not before she heard a pine-needle-sharp jeer; "Look at her! She can _stand_, isn't that amazing?"

"Hush!" Tigerheart had cuffed his apprentice over the head with a paw, glaring. "How would you feel if you only had three paws?"

Frostpaw hid a snicker. "I'm sorry!" she yowled at Cyri, without sincerity. The humour was clear in her mew. "I forgot that it wasn't your fault that you can't do anything!"

"Oh, _honestly_," muttered Flamefur crossly, trying to hurry Cyri back to his den more quickly.

But that was sunrises ago. Cyri was currently sitting in Flamefur's den, sharing a mouse with Lionkit.

Glancing across camp, the three-pawed she-kit froze as she saw Jaypaw and his mentor, Shrewfur, emerge out of the gloom of the trees. Jaypaw was proudly carrying a large dead frog in his jaws. Cyri shuddered, wondering how any cat could possibly digest something so chewy. However, it did mean that Jaypaw could not use his occupied jaws to throw a vicious insult at her.

"They're not that bad, you know." Lionkit's soft voice sounded close to Cyri's ear. Cyri looked around, blinking.

"You're only saying that 'cause they're all you eat..." she mewed. "They look _awful_ - and I'm not trying one," she added flatly.

"I'm not talking about the _frog_, mousebrain." Lionkit licked a paw and drew it over her ear. "I'm talking about Frostpaw and Jaypaw."

Cyri shot a look over at Jaypaw, who had set his frog down on the fresh-kill pile and was now boasting to Frostpaw, presumably about how he had caught it. "But they..." she mumbled, her short tail swishing from side to side. "They're _mean_ to me."

"They only taunt you because they know it gets to you," the other kit explained. "It's how all ShadowClan cats are taught to be. Confuse the enemy... get _inside_ their heads before you attack..." Lionkit stared broodingly at Sorrelkit, who was staring at Jaypaw and Frostpaw with large, admiring eyes.

Cyri was once again visited by the feeling that Lionkit was much older and wiser than she appeared.

"You're an outsider, which, to most of us, means you're an enemy," concluded Lionkit. She glanced over at Cyri to see if she seemed offended. When no response came from her, she ploughed on, "That's the reputation of ShadowClan. Cold... calculating... staying in the shadows..."

Unsheathing the claws from her remaining front paw, Cyri sank them into the mouse without thinking. Only when she felt the mouse's blood, still warm, in between her claws did she quickly sheath them.

"Oh." Her face fell as she stared at the ruined mouse.

"Don't worry, I was finished," Lionkit assured her. "I'll bury it. The senior warriors don't need to know about this."

She delicately picked up the half-eaten mouse in her jaws and padded out of the medicine cats' den, leaving a thin trail of blood marking where she had been on the ground.

Cyri stared at the red spots on the ground. The smell, although faint, was reaching her acute nose, and it was making her feel slightly ill. It was a similar stench as had been on the fox when...

_Don't think about that_, she reprimanded herself sharply.

To escape the thoughts that the scent had triggered, Cyri slowly wobbled to her paws. She was getting better at it now, although it still felt unnatural.

Three sunrises ago, Cyri had taken her first, very shaky steps. However, since then, she had not tried it again. Now, however, she thought that the time was ripe for another attempt... especially as the smell of blood was getting worse... or was that just her imagination?

Cyri picked up one of her back legs from the ground and moved it forward. For a heartbeat, she teetered dangerously on two legs, before quickly slamming her paw down and regaining her balance. She copied the movement with her other back leg, before picking her remaining front paw up. She reared on her back legs slightly for another heartbeat, and then she was back on three legs.

She looked back. Sighing deeply, Cyri realised that she had only moved a kittenstep.

Next on her to-do list; work on speed.


	12. Ten

**Thanks to xXThunderspiritXx, allygirl56, Spottedtalon, Lorelei Black, Wolfgaze, NewProphecy, Wildwaters, starpaw, and xxSnowfirexx for reviewing! I've now read the new Warriors book... I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it, but I will say this - the names are STILL going majorly downhill. Example; Ferretpaw. Olivenose. Redwillow. **

**And, as starpaw told me; 'What we need is some plot development'. Well, hopefully this will satisfy you :)**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Warriors, there wouldn't be beavers in The Fourth Apprentice (it's set in ENGLAND, people!) and Redwillow would be called Redstorm.**

Ten

Russetstar stared out from the cleft underneath the thick branch that created her den. In spite of herself, her claws slid out and her fur prickled with unease as she gazed - almost obsessively - at the far corner of camp where Flamefur made his den.

The kit tottered out of the den on her three paws. _Three_ paws... The ShadowClan leader shuddered. It was simply unnatural.

She was getting quite good at balancing now, Russetstar noticed. _Well, so she should be_, she reminded herself sharply. _She's been attempting it for almost a moon._

Russetstar glanced up at the thick covering of twisted treetops that sheltered their camp. Squinting through the branches, she made out the hazy shape of the full moon. The sun had almost set - and it was the kit's final day. After today, her camp would be restored to its usual order. Flamefur would stop devoting all his time to that _kit_, and be able to focus on his own Clanmates.

The kit half-dragged herself over to the fresh-kill pile and turned over every piece of prey on it before selecting the smallest lizard and taking it back to her nest in Flamefur's den. Russetstar wondered why she wanted such a tiny piece of prey - it would barely be a mouthful. She seemed to do that a lot, as a matter of fact; she only took the barest minimum of any of ShadowClan's resources.

_Maybe she's afraid that she's not doing anything to help..._ mused Russetstar. _Well, Jaypaw and Frostpaw would certainly give her an earful if she took anything more than that._

In her heart of hearts, she knew that she should have had a quiet word with the two apprentices. However, their thistle-sharp comments were not that far away from what Russetstar was feeling herself. She knew that they didn't agree with letting an unknown enemy penetrate their main camp. More than that, Russetstar could plainly see that they were little less than terrified of the kit. Her strange, shuffling walk, her furless, fleshy pink stump of a paw... And more than once, Russetstar thought that she had seen something dark flash in the kit's amber eyes. The only thing she had ever seen looking as tortured as that were the victims of Tigerstar's cruel tyranny.

So she, Frostpaw, and Jaypaw had covered up their fear the only way they knew how - using aggression.

Although, Russetstar had to admire her medicine cat. Flamefur seemed immune to the terror that coursed through Russetstar's veins when she looked at the kit. Certainly, he seemed to sense something in the three-legged cat, but he seemed to feel pity rather than uncertainty.

Lionkit, too - while her mother, Silverstripe, avoided the new arrival at all costs, the five-moon-old kit seemed to have struck up a strong friendship with her.

_How much does she really know about the kit?_ Russetstar wondered. _...A five-moon-old kit is more trusting than me, the Clan leader_, she thought, with a squirm of unease.

Russetstar sighed, before standing up and stretching out her limbs. The dusk hunting patrol was just leaving - Russetstar could make out the dark silhouettes of Owlflight, Yellowpaw, Mothfrost, and Cloudheart. Snaketail, the deputy, was organising the dusk border patrol. By the looks of things, he was ordering Scorchfire onto it, but he was refusing to go. From the way Scorchfire kept gesturing towards the nursery with his tail, Russetstar deduced that he had promised to visit Sorrelkit, his daughter.

The dark ginger she-cat closed her eyes briefly. The appearance of the kit in their midst had unsettled every cat, and tensions were running high. She needed to get rid of the kit - right this second. She had had her moon. She could safely walk. There was no reason why ShadowClan should keep protecting her any more.

Tensing her muscles, Russetstar leaped up onto the branch above her den, gripping tightly with her claws to pull herself upwards.

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather under the Highbranch for a Clan meeting!" Russetstar yowled, her words carrying on the warm greenleaf air. She watched as cats emerged from dens and approached. Thistlekit, Sandkit, Lionkit, and Sorrelkit bundled out of the nursery and gambolled playfully over to the throng of cats, closely followed by their mothers, Silverstripe and Dawnbreeze.

The kit dragged herself out of Flamefur's den after Flamefur himself, looking apprehensive. She knew what was coming. As she raised her eyes to stare at Russetstar, Russetstar jerked her head away. She didn't want to risk seeing that... something in her eyes.

"As you all know, the Gathering is tonight," Russetstar told the assembled cats, determinedly looking away from the speckled grey kit. "The cats that will be going are Larkpelt, Sparrowfur, Brindleclaw, Kinkfur, Ratscar, Shrewfoot, Mintcloud, Snowbird, Frostpaw, and Jaypaw."

She was saying the names of cats at random who caught her eye, not really giving any thought to it. When she ran through the list of names again in her head, she realised that she had included none of the cats who had argued for the kit to stay in the Clan. Pushing down the twinge of guilt that stirred in her belly, she quickly hurried on.

"Cats of ShadowClan, you are, of course, aware that for the last moon, we have been sheltering a rogue kit?" Of course, there was no real need to ask the question. The kit had, over the last moon, split the Clan. Russetstar supposed that it was simply lucky that no Clan had declared a battle against ShadowClan - if her own cats were reluctant to work together, how were they meant to fight off an opposing Clan? "I granted the cats who believed we should shelter her one moon. Her one moon is now up."

"Good riddance!" Jaypaw mewed in a carrying whisper. Russetstar chanced a look at the kit - her eyes were glazed with an unreadable emotion.

"Flamefur, do you agree, as I do, that this kit is now perfectly able to support its own weight?" Russetstar directed the question at her medicine cat, choosing to ignore the muttering that had struck up at Jaypaw's words.

"I do." Flamefur's mew was quiet. "But Russetstar, she can't defend herself-"

"We were agreed on one moon, Flamefur." Russetstar's mew had turned dangerous, warning him to accept without question. The last thing she needed was a public fight with her medicine cat.

Flamefur dipped his head, although his thick tail swished to and fro, and he did not look altogether pleased.

"I'll go." The kit's mew sounded squeaky and terrified, but set. "I'm going to find Pepper."

"Wh-who's Pepper?" asked Lionkit, confusion clouding her eyes. She looked around, realising that she had spoken in front of the Clan. Her ears flattened against her head in embarrassment.

"I... I don't know," admitted the kit, ducking her head. "But my mother mentioned him or her before she..."

Russetstar deliberately blinked for a long heartbeat as the kit broke off. She didn't want to see the shadow of pain in the kit's eyes. Russetstar did not want to be guilt-tripped at the last heartbeat. She needed to do what was best for her Clan.

"Well, the wishes of ShadowClan go with you, kit," Russetstar mewed awkwardly. This earned an incredelous look from Snaketail and Ratscar, but Russetstar gave a tiny shake of her head. "May StarClan... May StarClan light your path."

Although the kit didn't know what StarClan was, she seemed to understand the meaning behind Russetstar's words. She gave an odd little jerk with her head that may have been an attempt at a respectful dip of the head.

"Thanks for not killing me." The kit blinked at Flamefur. "When you found me."

Flamefur inclined his head towards the edge of camp. "Well... off you go." Russetstar was forcibly reminded of a father sending his daughter off to face her first battle. She twitched her whiskers as the kit limped slowly towards the edge of camp. She glanced back once.

The atmosphere in camp was less ShadowClan-like than Russetstar had ever seen it. For a heartbeat, she felt that she could almost pretend that she was in ThunderClan. She felt so... _soft_. Willing to accept a kittypet into the Clan, even.

But she didn't, because she couldn't. Because that wouldn't have been right for her Clan.


	13. Eleven

**Thanks to alleygirl56, xXThunderspiritXx, xXStarless NightXx, wildstar12, Snowstar of Seasonclan, Penmaster51, NewProphecy, Rubybaze, Spottedtalon, and Wolfgaze for reviewing! And special thanks to alleygirl56 for telling me that I'd uploaded the wrong chapter so that I could fix it quickly! Oh, and the viewpoint for this chapter is sort of _random_...**

**DISCLAIMER: Yes! Well, kind of... sort of... not really... okay, no... but still...**

Eleven

Shrewfoot curled her tail around her black-furred paws tightly to try and give herself some sort of warmth. Even though it was greenleaf, it was an unusually cold night. Shrewfoot supposed that greenleaf was finally drawing to a close. Leaf-fall would soon be setting in, and after that, the cold, preyless days of leafbare.

Cats of different scents and Clans mingled around the grey she-cat as they weaved in and out of each other, occasionally stopping to greet acquaintances from different Clans. The ShadowClan warrior picked up the half-excited, half-nervous scent of a young ThunderClan apprentice, who was obviously attending his very first Gathering.

Shrewfoot uncurled her tail and padded, light-pawed, over to a cluster of apprentices, which included the ThunderClan cat. He was a long-haired grey tom, and he was sticking to an older apprentice, a pale brown she-cat, like a burr. A brown-and-white RiverClan apprentice was gazing admiringly at two apprentices who were in the centre of the tight-knit group. Shrewfoot edged closer. With a jolt of recognition, she realised that the middle apprentices were Frostpaw and her own apprentice, Jaypaw.

"...and it was all horrible and mangled and it bled _all the time_," Frostpaw mewed exaggeratedly.

"Yeah, she didn't even have a _leg_," Jaypaw nodded.

"Go on!" mewed the brown-and-white RiverClan tom enthusiastically.

"Calm down, Beetlepaw, we haven't got to the best bit yet." Frostpaw seemed to be greatly enjoying herself. "Listen, what happened is this..."

"It stayed in our camp for a _whole moon_," whispered Jaypaw dramatically.

Shrewfoot's yellow eyes widened as she realised that they were talking about the three-legged kit. That was vital information that they were gossiping publicly about! Shrewfoot's eyes darted about, hoping that the cats from the other Clans hadn't heard anything. Dismay rising in her belly, Shrewfoot saw that Leaftail, the WindClan deputy, was sitting nearby, one ear swivelled towards the apprentices. He was clearly listening to every word they were saying.

"Mousebrains!" growled Shrewfoot, marching up to them, her eyes flashing. Frostpaw and Jaypaw started guiltily as the other apprentices scattered. Shrewfoot fixed Frostpaw with a glare. "Where's your mentor?"

"Tigerheart didn't come tonight." Frostpaw jutted out her chin in a valiant attempt at defiance, but it was obvious that she knew she was about to be punished.

"Well, you should at least be with a senior warrior!" hissed Shrewfoot, knowing that she should have looked after both apprentices, especially since one of them was her own. With half a glance at Leaftail, Shrewfoot saw that he had stalked away, and was now whispering to Onestar, the leader of WindClan.

Jaypaw cowered under his mentor's stare. "Sorry," he mumbled, addressing Shrewfoot's paws.

"Sorry isn't good enough!" spat Shrewfoot angrily. "Didn't you stop to think that Russetstar might have wanted to keep the fact that we were sheltering a kit for a whole moon quiet?"

"She's gone now, though, isn't she?" Frostpaw spoke up. "So it doesn't really matter."

Shrewfoot lifted a paw and cuffed Frostpaw over the ear. "That isn't the _point_! You need to learn when to keep your jaws _closed_!"

"_They_ won't say anything," argued Frostpaw, waving her tail in a vague direction towards the ThunderClan and RiverClan cats.

"They may not, but the WindClan deputy was listening! Anyone could have been listening!" Shrewfoot didn't envy Tigerheart this apprentice at all - she was horribly argumentative.

Frostpaw opened her jaws to deliver another swift retort, but then a piercing yowl cut across them. The heads of every cat turned to the thick bough that the leaders were balancing on.

Shrewfoot glanced down at the twisted roots of the tree, where the deputies sat. The ThunderClan deputy, Whitewing, the RiverClan deputy, Beechfur, and their Clan's own deputy, Snaketail, were all sitting there, upright and proud to represent their Clan. Leaftail was there, too. Shrewfoot studied his face carefully, but he had made it carefully impassive. She couldn't tell whether or not he had talked to Onestar about it.

_If only it had been Whitewing who had overheard,_ thought Shrewfoot wryly._ ThunderClan would probably have given Russetstar_ credit_ for what she did._

On edge, Shrewfoot contented herself by muttering to Frostpaw, "Don't think that I won't tell Tigerheart about this."

Frostpaw's face fell. "Elder duty?" she moaned quietly.

Jaypaw's shoulders slumped. "For a moon," he whispered to his friend.


	14. Twelve

**Thanks to xXThunderspiritXx, xXStarless NightXx, Rubyblaze, NewProphecy, allygirl56, Brightspirit, hawkpath, Wolfgaze, and Penmaster51 for reviewing! I'm snowed in. And very cold. But it's good for you people, 'cause I'm updating! Aaaaand... we're back to Cyri's point of view! Let's see how she's getting on... (not that _I _don't already know...)**

**DISCLAIMER:  
_I was out walking,  
I saw the four Erins,  
We glared at each other,  
And they... sued me._**

**Okay, so it doesn't rhyme. But you get the gist. I don't own Warriors.**

Twelve

Away from the Gathering island, but still not out of Clan territory completely, sat a small grey-speckled she-cat with her front left paw brutally ripped away. In all truthfulness, Cyri didn't have the faintest clue where she was. She had simply walked - well, if you could call it walking.

She guessed that she was still in ShadowClan territory, as smooth-trunked pine trees still overshadowed her, and she was sure that Flamefur had once said something about it smelling different in other Clans' territories.

As Cyri's stomach gave a loud rumble, her mind swerved in the direction of her next meal. She hadn't thought about that, actually - before she had come to ShadowClan, Cyri had always been fed by Snowpaw.

_Snowpaw_. Somehow, finding Pepper was inexplicably linked with seeing her mother again. In the back of her mind, she somehow believed that if she found Pepper, Snowpaw would just suddenly burst from the undergrowth, or something of that nature. Cyri had even dared to hope, once, that she had mistaken what she had seen and that Half was still alive, and had somehow escaped the fox. But she had discarded the thought almost at once - she had heard Half's neck break, seen his eyes dull in death. There wasn't even the slimmest hope that he could possibly be alive.

Cyri's belly was still objecting loudly to its lack of food. Cyri almost wanted to tell it to be quiet, that it would scare off all the prey. But, even if there were any prey, how would she catch it? Even with all four paws intact it would have been a struggle - not only was Cyri very small, she had never been taught to hunt.

Getting to her paws, Cyri limped over to the left, where the trees seemed to be thinning slightly. After several long heartbeats of effort dragging herself across the ground, Cyri saw that she had stumbled across what appeared to be the lake. The shining stretch of water, reflecting the stars and round, full moon was more than Cyri had ever imagined, and for a heartbeat, she could only gape, her jaws opening and closing like a fish.

When she had come to her senses again, Cyri looked down at the slope leading towards the lake. A gust of wind ruffled the surface of the lake, bringing with it a strong, fishy scent. Cyri knew what fish smelt like because one of the warriors had once caught one in the lake and brought it back to camp.

Cyri wrinkled her nose. Maybe it was another Clan's scent. She tried to focus her nose on the other scent that the breeze had brought - underneath the musky, fishy smell Cyri could sense one that didn't even smell of cats.

She looked more closely at the slope leading down to the lake. Now she looked at it, she could see that there were some weird flappy pelt-things set up on it. Pink creatures that were standing on their hind legs were crawling in and out of these pelts. They lacked fur, except for a strange fuzz on the tops of their heads.

Inching closer, Cyri tried to draw in more of the scent. It was strange, but somehow... there was a vague scent of _prey_ in the air. Encouraged by this thought, Cyri dragged herself almost all the way down the slope, until she was just foxlengths away from the nearest of the pelt-things.

The scent of prey was definitely in Cyri's nose now. It smelled a little bit like mouse, but different, in a way... In any case, Cyri didn't care. Her belly was complaining more noisily than ever.

Giving a hopeful mew, Cyri sniffed the corner of the pelt-thing. The flap opened and Cyri jumped back, her fur fluffing out as a pink creature emerged.

The pink creature bent down, making soft tutting noises. Cyri dared hope for a heartbeat, but then the creature jumped back, screeching in disgust. The creature had also dropped what it was holding. Shame swept over Cyri as she saw that the pink creature's small, dull brown eyes eyes were fixed on her stump of a paw.

The creature dashed back inside the pelt-thing, and Cyri crept closer to the item that it had dropped. It was soft and white, with a light brown edge, and inside it was some sort of pale brown stuff. It was in the shape of a triangle, and wasn't much bigger than a large mouse. Sniffing it cautiously, Cyri detected a smell of fresh-kill coming from the thin slices of pale brown stuff. She supposed that it was a sort of fresh-kill for the pink things.

Opening her jaws, Cyri sank them into the soft white slice, and the pale brown slices underneath. The white slices were more or less tasteless, but the pale brown stuff had a taste that reminded her distinctly of sparrow.

_I'd take a mouse any day, but..._

**A/N/: MORE FILLER!! =is irritated with self= Things were supposed to actually start to move faster on this chapter... But the Cyri in my head is controlling the chapter! For StarClan's sake, Cyri, I AM THE AUTHOR! You're supposed to listen to me, and do what I tell you! Ugh. I will get her under control, I promise :) Hopefully next chapter will be more action-y.**


	15. Thirteen

**Thanks to starpaw, xXThunderspiritXx, NewProphecy, Cinderpaw11, allygirl56, LittleSpark, icethroat11, xXStarless NightXx, Wolfgaze, and starpaw for reviewing!**

**DISCLAIMER: More disclaiming songs!  
_Warriors was not my creation,  
Something about cremation...  
Er..._**

**Making these things up is harder than it looks, you know!**

Thirteen

Cyri floated in and out of consciousness. At times, she wasn't sure whether she was dreaming or whether she was awake. Was that speckled grey shape really standing in front of her? Was a tiny white shape with dark patches really staring at her pityingly, with amber eyes astonishingly similar to that of some cat she had once known...?

But that bushy-tailed ginger shape _couldn't_ be in her waking mind... she had dreamed of it often enough... The shape of its narrow muzzle... its delicate white paws... its horrible, yellow teeth... and worst of all, the _stench_...

But this was different to her usual dreams of the fox... as Cyri braced herself to see Half's broken body dangling limply from its jaws, she suddenly realised... it wasn't there. Her paws weren't whole, as they normally were in this dream. Only three of them were full and healthy... the other... was only a stump.

And the fox normally just made off with Half's body, and left Cyri bleeding on the ground... the fox _definitely_ didn't usually leap _towards _Cyri, its tawny eyes sharpened for the kill...

_Aren't dreams usually free of pain? _Cyri thought dazedly, vaguely aware that her old wound had opened afresh and was bleeding again, as though her paw had been attatched mere heartbeats ago.

And her usual dream about Half and the fox _certainly _didn't include a white blur shooting across Cyri's vision and wrestling with the fox, both animals snapping and yelping in pain.

It was at the point where the white cat turned to her, blue eyes blazing, that Cyri realised it.

This was no dream.

"Cyri, get away from here!" Snowpaw screamed, as the fox grasped her tail between its jagged teeth. Snowpaw's eyes glazed over with pain but she continued to stare at her daughter, her paws scrabbling on the leafy ground. "_Now_!"

"Mother?" breathed Cyri in wonder. "I... you... _M-Mother_?"

Snowpaw turned away from Cyri and lashed out at the fox with her front paw, her claws scoring a ragged line down the side of the fox's face. It gave a whine of pain and ducked its head. Cyri's mother took this moment of weakness to deliver a sharp nip above the fox's shoulder.

Knowing that it was beaten, the fox skulked away swiftly into the shadows of the evening forest, white-tipped tail between its legs.

Cyri could still barely believe what she was seeing. "Snowpaw?" she squeaked, eyes round with disbelief. "But you... you..."

Snowpaw turned around slowly, as though she were reluctant to face her daughter. Cyri noticed that her shoulders were slumped, that her fur was stiff with grime and smudged with dirt, and that, despite her recent victory, her tail hung limply between her legs.

When her blue eyes finally bonded with Cyri's amber ones, Cyri was surprised, and a little worried, to see a fear of sorts there.

At that moment, she remembered _why _Snowpaw had left. Well, not _why _- but the reason that Cyri associated with her mother's departure.

_Snowpaw looked around. Her teeth were bared in a terrifying snarl and her fur was fluffed up. Even though she was several foxlengths away, Cyri shrank back in terror. A battle of what looked like anger and sadness was taking place in her eyes._

_"I can't... take it..." Her voice was strained and choked. "You're too much... like... Pepper."_

_And then she whipped her head around and bolted._

Cyri stumbled backwards and tripped. She cursed her paw for being so hard to manoeuvre around, feeling mousebrained as she scrambled up in the dirt. Suddenly, the return of Snowpaw didn't seem as much of a miracle as it had done a few heartbeats ago.

"C-Cyri?" mewed Snowpaw, taking a tentative step forward. "Y-you _are_ Cyri... aren't...?" Her question trailed away into nothing.

"S-stay away!" warned Cyri, horribly aware that her voice was high and squeaky. "I'm warning-"

"Where's Half?" asked Snowpaw urgently. "What happened to your paw?" Her eyes performed the flick down to Cyri's stump of a paw that now seemed familiar.

It was that gesture, that single movement, that broke Cyri. Only that familiar flick of Snowpaw's eyes could have done it.

And Cyri, the five moon old kit who had lived through so much more than she should have, rushed forwards and buried her muzzle in her mother's sweet-smelling white fur.

**A/N/: =nods in satisfaction= Finally, Cyri is listening to me! The reign of the filler chapters is most likely over. I say 'most likely'... if Cyri doesn't start playing up again. =glares=  
Cyri: What? It's not always my fault!  
Sigh.**


	16. Fourteen

**Thanks to Thunderspirit, Wildwaters, NewProphecy, Icethroat21, xXStarless NightXx, wildstar12, Penmaster51, Rubyblaze****, allygirl56, Brightspirit, Cinderpaw11, starpaw, and Wolfgaze for reviewing! I thanked starpaw twice on the last chapter, I notice... Oops. And I'm snowed in again... This snow is actually getting stupid. No one can go anywhere. Anyway, we're back to my story, which is ironically set at the end of summer :/**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors, and I don't own the snow that is falling from the sky. Not that the Erins own the snow... But if I owned the snow, I could stop it FALLING :(**

Fourteen

"...apart from that, we have no other news," Mistystar concluded her report, before stepping back on the bough and nodding to Onestar, who was next to speak.

Shrewfoot's heart lurched with dread. _StarClan, please, let Leaftail have kept his jaws shut!_ If WindClan mentioned anything about the kit, Shrewfoot was fully aware that she would share the blame. It was her apprentice who had been caught gossiping, after all.

"WindClan has little to report," yowled Onestar, strutting to the forefront of the branch. "Mistflower's three kits have reached their sixth moon, and made apprentices. Spottedpaw, Squirrelpaw, and Rowanpaw are all here tonight."

Shrewfoot didn't even join in with the approval that rang out for the three new apprentices. The tense knot in her belly refused to loosen, and she knew that it wouldn't until Onestar ended his report.

"However..." Onestar's eyes glittered as he swung around to face Russetstar, and Shrewfoot's claws slid out into the dark ground. "I hear a tale that you have had a guest in your camp in recent sunrises, Russetstar?"

Russetstar's pupils dilated with fear and anger. "You've been _spying_?" she hissed.

Shrewfoot itched to claw the smug look off Onestar's face. She consoled herself by clawing a nearby fallen leaf to shreds.

"I have no need to sink that low," mewed Onestar slowly, emphasising every word, "when any cat can 'accidentally' overhear some very illuminating things that your apprentices are saying."

"What?" Russetstar was thrown - her ears were flattened in disbelief. "What are you meowing about, Onestar?"

"My deputy tells me that he heard two of your apprentices boasting about how you, Russetstar, had been keeping a kit in your camp for the last moon... And if Leaftail heard correctly, he believes that the kit only had three paws."

Russetstar said nothing. Her eyes darted over to where Frostpaw and Jaypaw were sitting next to Shrewfoot. Jaypaw ducked his head and tried to look as insignificant as possible.

"Were you planning on revealing this, Russetstar?" asked Onestar innocently, speaking rather more loudly than usual over the confused murmuring of the gathered cats. "This... erm... hostage? Or," his eyes flashed, "not a hostage? A merciful impulse, perhaps?"

"It was a _kit_, Onestar, for StarClan's sake!" Flamefur called out angrily. He was seated around the base of the tree, near the deputies. "When I found her, her paw had just been ripped off! Surely it was a case of saving the life of an innocent kit!"

"And _we_ didn't know!" Much to Shrewfoot's chagrin, it was Frostpaw who was now calling out in front of the entire Gathering. "Anyway, she's gone now, isn't she? The stupid kit said she was going to find Pepper-"

"Hush!" hissed Shrewfoot, swiping her sheathed claws across Frostpaw's muzzle. The grey-and-white apprentice recoiled.

However, Lionstar, who had hovered in the shadows with Mistystar through this whole conversation, suddenly jerked his head up and made a seemingly involuntary movement towards the front of the branch. "Wha- _Pepper_?"

Jayfeather, ThunderClan's blind medicine cat, walked swiftly through the crowd of cats without regard for any of them. Muttering in annoyance, cats of all Clans jumped out of the way as Jayfeather marched up to the branch.

Lionstar leaped lightly off the bough and started whispering urgently to his brother. Every cat was staring at them, including Russetstar and Onestar, who were looking confused.

Shrewfoot inclined her ears towards the two brothers, trying to figure out what they were saying.

"I know! I _know_!" whispered Jayfeather vehemently. He glanced around at the collected cats and gave them an appeasing look. Then he turned back to Lionstar and started rapidly whispering to the ThunderClan leader.

"But that's-" Lionstar cut off abruptly. He shook his head swiftly, and then turned and leaped back onto the branch.

Every cat stared at him expectantly. Lionstar looked vaguely embarrassed, perhaps realising that every cat had been eavesdropping on his conversation.

"Well?" Onestar mewed impatiantly, finally breaking the silence. "What was all of that?"

Lionstar gave a heavy sigh, perhaps realising that there was no backing out of revealing to the whole Gathering what had happened. "Do you remember Leopardpaw and Snowpaw?"

A few foxlengths away from Shrewfoot, a ThunderClan tortoiseshell stiffened, her eyes glazing over.

"Didn't..." Onestar looked like he was struggling to remember. "Weren't they two apprentices of yours that were hit by a monster moons ago?"

Lionstar looked like he was about to duck his head - Shrewfoot thought for a heartbeat that he looked like an apprentice caught in wrongdoing. "Well, yes," he admitted. "But we... well, Snowpaw... she..." Lionstar swished his tail back and forth, seeming to struggle for words. "She's..."

"For StarClan's sake," snapped Jayfeather. "It's not that hard to say." He addressed the Gathering. "Listen, what he's trying to say is that Snowpaw was in love with a kittypet named Pepper."

The tortoiseshell she-cat's legs gave way, and she sank to the ground. She seemed to be muttering a fervent prayer to StarClan.

Shrewfoot's eyes widened. She blinked. _Why would a Clan...?_

Russetstar whipped around to face Lionstar. "What? Is this true?" she spat. However, Shrewfoot could sense her relief that the attention was off her.

Lionstar gave a single nod, his eyes closed with regret.

"She never really died."


	17. Fifteen

**Thanks to**** NewProphecy, xXThunderspiritXx, xXStarless NightXx, icethroat21, Cinderpaw11, Wildwaters, starpaw, Penmaster51, Songdust of DustClan, allygirl56, and Wolfgaze for reviewing! Well, the snow is gone. We have rain now. How I love Britain. Not.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors. Nor do I own the papercut that is keeping me from typing properly. Or do I? It _is_ on my finger, after all...**

Fifteen

"What are you meowing about?" hissed Russetstar. "Never really _died_?"

Lionstar ignored her comment. His head flicked around to Jayfeather, who gave a tiny nod. Lionstar turned back to Russetstar. "What did the kit say about Pepper?"

Russetstar narrowed her eyes, but said nothing about Lionstar's ignorance. "Just that she was going to find him, and that her mother mentioned him before she left her."

"Are you sure?" Lionstar urged her. "Anything else - anything at all? About... her mother?"

"Yes." Flamefur spoke up, his green eyes were fixed on Lionstar. Russetstar made an angry noise of disapproval, but she could hardly reprimand him in front of representatives of every Clan. "She told me something."

Lionstar's eyes blazed as he blanked Russetstar completely and focused his attention on the medicine cat. "Yes? What?"

"She was telling about her brother. When her brother died," mewed Flamefur calmly. "She told me about her mother. She said she was very pretty, with white fur and blue eyes... and grey ear-tips."

This pronoucement caused quite a stir among the ThunderClan members of the party. Many of them gasped or narrowed their eyes, and the tortoiseshell that had fallen to the ground struggled to her paws and raised her head, light kindling in her eyes.

"That's my _daughter_!" she yowled pitifully, her eyes flicking from Lionstar to Flamefur almost hungrily.

Mistystar seemed to resent being ignored. She broke in. "Lionstar?" she mewed sharply. "What is your warrior mewing about? Surely this cat was a rogue - how could she have...?" She trailed off, realisation dawning in her bright blue eyes. "_Oh_."

"Yes, yes!" The tortoiseshell she-cat nodded, sounding slightly hysterical. "Oh, Lionstar, she's _alive_?"

Lionstar heaved a sigh so deep that the trees around seemed to ring with it. "Yes, Poppyfrost. She is alive. And it seems... that she has kitted."

"No!" Poppyfrost seemed to be processing this information. Then, as she realised it, she slowly turned to Russetstar, looking like she would quite like to attack her. "You left my _granddaughter _to the mercy of the forest?" she spat. For a heartbeat, Russetstar looked quite afraid.

"Poppyfrost, control yourself," mewed Lionstar sharply, seeming to regain some of his leadership. Poppyfrost sat down again, looking somewhat subdued. A tawny ThunderClan she-cat darted through the crowd and pressed herself close to Poppyfrost, murmuring words of comfort into her ears.

Onestar, who had been suspiciously quiet through the whole of this, spoke up. "Russetstar, there is no doubt that this changes things a great deal. Now, however... I'm sure that ThunderClan will not appreciate the fact that you've been keeping a _ThunderClan_ kit prisoner in your camp?"

"Onestar!" mewed Mistystar, seeming deeply shocked, but Russetstar cut over her.

"Onestar, how can you wish this conflict on us?" she hissed. "A few heartbeats ago, you were telling us that we were _sheltering_ this kit!"

"Your apprentices seemed quite certain that the kit was a prisoner," shrugged Onestar.

"Enough!" rumbled Lionstar. His eyes flashed. "Russetstar, why did you not see fit to tell us?"

"Who said that I wasn't going to tell you?" retorted Russetstar. She winced as the words left her jaws - clearly, she felt that they sounded like the words of a chided apprentice. She tried again. "It wasn't a _ThunderClan_ kit, anyhow - it was a _rogue_, for StarClan's sake!"

"It was _my granddaughter_!" Poppyfrost had got to her paws again. The tawny queen was clearly trying to calm her down, but this time, Lionstar didn't order her to be quiet.

"Snowpaw didn't want to leave," he mewed. "However, the circumstances-"

"What circumstances?" caterwauled some cat. Lionstar ignored them.

"-the circumstances were inevitable," he mewed. "Her kit was born to a ThunderClan cat. It is rightly ThunderClan's."

"But... it... _the kit is gone_!" spluttered Russetstar. "Surely it doesn't matter?"

A growl warned her quiet as Lionstar pushed his muzzle in Russetstar's face. "You are a fool," he hissed. "A fool and a code-breaker."

Russetstar flinched away and opened her jaws, but Mistystar let out a yowl.

"Look at the moon!"

Every cat fell silent, and the island seemed to darken as every cat looked upwards. A thick cloud had blotted out full moon's light.

"StarClan do not wish this," hissed Mistystar in a commanding tone. "This Gathering is _over_." She flicked her tail and the RiverClan cats filed out of the Gathering-place, casting dark glances back at the remaining cats.

Lionstar turned his back to Russetstar and swept his own cats away without a word.

Onestar blinked at Russetstar in an unfriendly manner. He opened his jaws.

"WindClan are _not weak_."

The WindClan cats were gone, and now only ShadowClan remained. Russetstar gaped after the other leaders; her shoulders were slumped as she stood, alone, on the Highbranch.

The cloud did not uncover the moon until every last cat was back in their camps.


	18. Sixteen

**Thanks to Rubyblaze, xXThunderspiritXx, Cinderpaw11, allygirl56, NewProphecy, Icethroat21, xXStarless NightXx, Wildwaters, Wolfgaze, and starpaw**** for reviewing! Now, everyone was asking; 'Does this mean that we're going to go back to Cyri and Snowpaw now???' Or words to that effect. And the answer is, yes. Yes, we are :D**

**And I apologise for my reprehensible lack of updates. It's 'cause of a little thing I like to call 'life'. It got in the way.**

**DISCLAIMER: Things I don't own: Um... I'm sure there are many things, but Warriors is the only thing I can think of right now. I'll get back to you on that one.**

Sixteen

In moons to come, Cyri would never properly remember how those few hours had passed. The hours following her mother's return.

She vaguely remembered wailing out the whole story of Half's death and her lost paw, as well as a few badly-strung-together sentences about her time in ShadowClan. Cyri wasn't altogether certain that Snowpaw understood everything that her daughter was telling her, but she certainly responded in a most comforting way - just staying quiet and giving her a gentle lick on the ear every now and again. Later, Cyri supposed that she must have fallen asleep at some point - well, she must have done, to have woken up later.

It was the clearest of mornings. The sky was cloudless above the thick pine trees, and a pale blue colour. Cyri was nestled into her mother's warm belly, and she awoke feeling pleasantly comfortable. In the few heartbeats that passed where she hovered somewhere on the brink of consciousness, Cyri could almost pretend that the moon that had eclipsed since Snowpaw's absence had never happened.

And then she yawned, blinked, and saw the empty space where Half would have been, had he been alive. And it all rolled over on her.

Cyri sat up and stared across the length of forest that she could see. A small wood mouse was foraging under a pile of dead leaves. It gazed at Cyri for a heartbeat, and then continued its search for food. Cyri's mouth watered, and she wished that she could spring the couple of foxlengths forward and snap it up. But it was impossible.

Behind her, Snowpaw was stirring. Cyri whipped her head around, and then promptly crashed nose-first into the ground. She hadn't _quite_ mastered her balance skills yet, whatever she told Russetstar.

Scrambling up, the small grey kit limped - quickly by her standards - back to where she had previously been sleeping and closed her eyes. For some confounding reason yet unknown to Cyri, she didn't want her mother to find her sitting here, awake, just thinking.

Her eyes still tightly closed, Cyri felt her mother's body shift and, predictably, stand. She stretched out her limbs, and dead leaves crunched under her pads as she walked away from her kit. For a heartbeat, Cyri's heart thumped a violent tattoo against her chest - was Snowpaw leaving her again, so soon? But the feeling quickly died as she realised that Snowpaw had sat down, mere tail-lengths from where Cyri had been sitting before. She gave a small sigh.

"Oh, Pepper, what have I done?" she murmured, so quietly that Cyri had to incline her ears towards Snowpaw so that she could hear.

_Pepper!_

It was that name again. Cyri's blood pounded, loud in her ears. Was she finally about to get to the bottom of this?

"I was supposed to leave them forever, so I wouldn't hurt them..." Again, Snowpaw's mew was barely more than a whisper. "But now Half is dead, and she..." Snowpaw broke off, her voice thick. When she continued, her already-quiet mew was muffled, as though she had buried her head in her paws. "Why does everyone I love _die _in some way, Pepper? First you... and then Leopardpaw... now our kits..."

Cyri's heart, which had been beating so frantically a few heartbeats ago, now seemed to stop. _Our kits_. And it clicked into place.

_Pepper is... my father?_

No... that wasn't possible, Cyri told herself. She and Half didn't _have_ a father. The concept of a father wasn't something that they'd even considered considering. It was just the three of them, and they were perfectly happy that way. A father would mess everything up.

_Only it's not the three of us anymore, is it?_ a small, truthful voice in the back of Cyri's head mewed.

With a sick, swooping feeling in the pit of her stomach, it dawned upon Cyri why her pelt wasn't beautiful, fluffy and white.

***

"On the left!"

Cyri blinked sleepily, the afternoon sun filtering through a gap in the trees and warming her fur somewhat. It had been very awkward between Snowpaw and herself that day - after their initial reunion, neither of them really seemed to want to talk much - and eventually, to break the tension, Snowpaw had offered to go and hunt 'as long as you _stay right there_'. Cyri had, so far, spent a far more relaxing afternoon lying in the sun, listening to the birds.

But that irregular sound was _not_ just the birds tweeting...

"Your _other_ left, mousebrain!"

"I hate this part of the forest. I never come here. I don't know it that well. I-"

"Oh, 'you' everything."

Cyri was fully awake now, her doze gone. Those voices... those were two voices she would recognise anywhere.

A glimpse of grey-and-white fur caught her eye. Turning her head, Cyri realised her suspicions were correct - though it intrigued her why the two cats who probably hated her the most were here.

"Frost...paw?" The kit gaped, before pushing herself up to a sitting position. "Jaypaw?"

"This is 'cause we don't want elder duty, okay? _Just_ 'cause we don't want elder duty!" Frostpaw mewed sharply, before Cyri could make any more movements. She wrinkled her nose. "Snowbird takes _forever_ to clean, she never gets rid of her own ticks!"

"What... what are you mewing about?" Cyri twitched her whiskers in confusion.

"Never. Mind," the ShadowClan apprentice growled. "Just... you need to come back with us. Now."

"What? But-"

"Don't. Argue," hissed Frostpaw, cutting across her words completely. "Camp. _Now_."

Cyri was dreadfully confused. "But Russetstar chucked me out!"

"Yeah? Well, she's chucking you back in again." Narrowing her eyes, Frostpaw turned tail and swept away.

Cyri looked blankly at Jaypaw for an explanation. He half-shrugged.

"She's... a bit snappy today," he mumbled, most unhelpfully.

"Are you _coming_, or what?" yowled Frostpaw, sounding irritated, from the trees.

"But I don't get _why_-"

"Listen, it's just something that happened at the Gathering, okay?" Jaypaw looked most unwilling to be conversing with Cyri like this.

"What's a Gathering? I don't understand-"

"Will you two hurry up?" Frostpaw mewed loudly.

"It's too complicated to explain right now," Jaypaw mewed, glancing around as though he feared that someone would spot him talking to Cyri in an almost friendly manner, "but it's really important. Cats could potentially die."

_Cats could die. _

_Cats could die._

_Cats could _die_._

Cyri took a deep breath. Snowpaw or no Snowpaw...

"_If you don't get your tails over here in the next couple of heartbeats, you are going believe that Tigerstar was merciful on the cats he tortured_!"


	19. Seventeen

**Thanks to Icethroat21, Rubyblaze, xXStarless NightXx, Penmaster51, NewProphecy, xXThunderspiritXx, Cinderpaw11, Brightspirit, allygirl56, Songdust of DustClan, starpaw, Wolfgaze, and Wildwaters**** for reviewing! Well, I know that a lot of you hate Frostpaw and Jaypaw... But maybe this chapter might redeem them in your eyes slightly. Well, Jaypaw, at least :/ And we've passed one hundred and fifty reviews! =dances=**

**DISCLAIMER: If there are about 6797900000 people living on earth as of January 22nd 2010 (which there are - scary thought) then 6797899996 of those people do not own Warriors. I am one of those 6797899996 :D In other words, I don't own Warriors.**

Seventeen

Frostpaw did not break stride as the three of them marched purposefully towards the ShadowClan camp. At least, Frostpaw and Jaypaw marched purposefully... Cyri scrambled and limped most of the way, half-regretting her decision and cursing Frostpaw and Jaypaw for not slowing down at least a little - couldn't they see that her legs were smaller than theirs?

She wasn't entirely sure why she felt so little about losing Snowpaw again. Surely she should feel _some_ sort of remorse? But there was nothing. _Maybe I've just lived for so long without her..._ Cyri thought, with a pang of guilt.

Cyri glanced up at Jaypaw, who was resolutely staring in front of him, refusing to look at Cyri. Frostpaw was thrashing through the undergrowth in front of them with a wholly unnecessary amount of noise, and so Cyri didn't feel quite so scared. Jaypaw didn't make her feel as diminished as Frostpaw did.

"How old are you?" asked the speckled she-cat tentatively. She wasn't quite sure why she wanted to know. She was almost six moons, but Jaypaw didn't look a great deal larger than her. How old were Clan kits when they became apprentices, anyway?

Jaypaw didn't look at her when he answered. "Seven moons," he said stiffly. "And a half. Seven and a half moons." He said it as though the half-a-moon made all the difference.

"I'm _nearly_ six moons," mewed Cyri, drawing herself up to her full height. "I will be soon. 'Cause I was almost five moons when I first came to your Clan..."

"Mmn, I know," mewed Jaypaw, still carefully not bringing himself to look at her. "Because Lionpaw and Thistlepaw and Sandpaw were just a bit older than you, and they became apprentices yesterday."

"Lion...paw?" Cyri repeated the name slowly, cocking her head. "I thought her name was Lionkit?"

"Well, she's an apprentice now," mewed Jaypaw infuriatingly, as though that explained everything. Cyri wanted to claw him for treating her like a newborn kit.

"Oh. I see," she replied, even though she didn't see at all.

Jaypaw sighed. "No, you don't."

"No, I don't," agreed Cyri quickly.

Jaypaw closed his eyes briefly. "When a kit reaches its sixth moon, it becomes an apprentice, and takes the name 'paw instead of 'kit. Get it?"

It dawned on Cyri that Jaypaw was at least _trying_, which was more than could be said for Frostpaw, who was still loudly and angrily, it seemed, lashing her way through the dark forest. Even though she thought that the whole thing was highly mousebrained - _why not just keep the same name all your life, and not keep chopping and changing, stupid furballs?_ - she nodded. "That... erm... makes sense."

To her surprise, Jaypaw gave a low purr.

"What?" mewed Cyri hotly.

"You're really willing to please," was all that Jaypaw would offer.

Cyri was vaguely annoyed. She had tried to be friendly, and then he had _purred_ at her. She growled slightly.

_Toms_, she thought, _always have bees in their brains._

***

"Here, we're nearly here." Frostpaw threw her words behind her as though she did not even want to look at Cyri - as though she would catch a highly contagious disease.

Alarm suddenly flared in Jaypaw's eyes. "No, _wait_!" he hissed.

"_Ru_-" Frostpaw started to yowl, but Jaypaw sprung forwards and tackled her to the ground.

"What in StarClan's name-?"

"Shhh! Shhh!" mewed Jaypaw frantically, not letting Frostpaw escape his grasp.

Cyri watched on, open-jawed. She didn't have a clue what was going on - wasn't the whole point of this to take her to Russetstar?

"No - she doesn't know!" hissed Jaypaw.

"Who? And I swear to StarClan, if you don't get off me-"

"Russetstar, mousebrain! She doesn't _know_!"

Frostpaw froze. "_What_?" she spat. "But you told me-"

Jaypaw said nothing. His eyes flashed with embarrassment.

Cyri, sensing his chagrin, turned away and tactfully muttered something about going to make dirt. She hovered a few foxlengths away, just out of sight, but still within hearing distance of the conversation.

"Well?" hissed Frostpaw. Jaypaw had stepped away from her, and she was now on her paws.

"Ah... well." Jaypaw looked reluctant. "I thought that Russetstar _might_ want to see her-"

"Right." Frostpaw twitched her whiskers, looking half-amused, half-irritated. "Now tell me the _real_ reason, mousebrain."

"Hmm." Jaypaw looked disappointed that he hadn't fooled her. He sighed. "Well, you know how we've kind of insulted her and stuff... and stuff? And, you know... and stuff?"

"I know this insulting 'stuff'." There was a definite edge of humour in Frostpaw's mew now, cancelling out her annoyance.

"Well, yeah... well..." Jaypaw scuffed the ground with a front paw. "I kind of... well... miss her. A bit. Only a little bit."

Cyri blinked.

A flock of sparrows took flight in alarm as Frostpaw pounced on Jaypaw.

"Aha!" she mewed triumphantly, starting to purr.

Jaypaw looked highly embarrassed.


	20. Eighteen

**Thanks to xXStarless NightXx, Wolfgaze, hi, Wildwaters, NewProphecy, Penmaster51, Lorelei Black, allygirl56, and xXThunderspiritXx ****for reviewing! I glad you peoples like Jaypaw now. He was mean, now he's awesome. =huggles Jaypaw= Ah, but Frostpaw...**

**DISCLAIMER: All right, stop! Collaborate and listen! Flareon's back with her brand new invention! Only she doesn't own it... or Warriors... or the lyrics to this song... Which Vanilla Ice owns. (But John and Edward have covered it)**

Eighteen

"What's going on here?"

Cyri crouched lower in her hiding-place, terrified that she had been seen. When she snatched a glance at the scene through the branches, she saw a light brown tabby tom glowering down at the two ShadowClan apprentices.

"Owlflight," Cyri breathed, eyes round. The tabby tom was a fairly new warrior, but apparantly he was just a _little_ too big for his fur. Cyri found herself hoping against hope that the two ShadowClan apprentices wouldn't get into trouble because of her, and she was surprised at herself - what had happened to all the ill-feeling between them?

Jaypaw and Frostpaw scrambled up and met the warrior's gaze. "We thought we'd do a spot of hunting," lied Frostpaw smoothly. She sounded very convincing - Cyri recognised an expert at work, and suspected that she had talked her way out of trouble many times before.

"Really?" Owlflight snorted, and then glanced around. "Where's the prey?"

"We've only just come out," shrugged Frostpaw innocently.

"Hmm? But I saw you leave camp a while ago..."

"I had to wait for Jaypaw while he made dirt," mewed Frostpaw. Cyri told herself that she was imagining the glimmer of panic in the ShadowClan she-cat's eyes - she _couldn't_ be running out of ideas... "He ate a stale mouse, and it disagreed with him. No doubt that _Yellowflight_ brought it in," she added in a sulky mutter.

"Hush!" snapped Owlflight harshly. He puffed out his chest proudly. "Yellowflight will make a fine warrior. There is no need to be jealous - you two haven't been in training as long."

"Only saying that 'cause you were her mentor..." mewed Frostpaw in an undertone.

Luckily, though, Owlflight did not hear her. He was sniffing the air, and appeared to have lost interest in their conversation.

"Wait." The warrior froze. "I scent... I scent..."

Cyri made herself as small as possible, flattening herself against the brown, spiky pine needles.

"...that kit. That kit is here," Owlflight murmured. Cyri saw his pupils dilate - was he _scared_?

The three-legged kit's breath hitched in her throat. If he found her, he would throw her out, or take her to Russetstar. It amounted to the same thing. But if he did that, then Snowpaw... Cyri realised that she could never, _never_ find Snowpaw again in the expanse of this forest.

"What kit?" asked Jaypaw innocently, his face blank - except for a trace of fear lingering behind his eyes.

"The _kit_!" mewed Owlflight impatiently. "The disgusting one, the one that you hated..."

Cyri saw that Jaypaw stopped himself from flinching just in time. _What? I thought he _did _hate me? But he said he missed me..._ Cyri shook her head. _Toms are _weird_..._

"Well, I'm sure it's just an old scent," Frostpaw mewed brightly, from behind him. She threw a glare at Jaypaw, a clear _if-we-get-out-of-this-I'm-going-to-murder-you-for-bringing-her-back-here_ look. "She-" Frostpaw broke off. Her eyes grew wide.

For a heartbeat, Cyri wondered what was going on. Then a scent hit her, a full-force, impact-blown scent.

Snowpaw.

The next heartbeat, Cyri found herself shoved roughly out of her hiding place and being covered with furious licks.

"_Where - have - you - been_?" Snowpaw growled in Cyri's ear.

Cyri's head was pounding from all of the jostling that she was being subjected to, and her lost paw was starting to ache, too.

"Snowpaw!" she protested. Absurdly, she felt _embarrassed_. She was being licked clean by her mother in front of Frostpaw, Jaypaw, and a ShadowClan warrior who may or may not want to chase her out of the Clan.

She pulled away from her mother's grasp and glanced around. Jaypaw looked shocked, and slightly guilty, Frostpaw kept shooting furtive glances at Owlflight, and Owlflight looked dumbfounded.

"Snowpaw." He blinked. "Y-you're... Snowpaw."

Snowpaw's attention was diverted away from her daughter for a heartbeat. She jutted her chin out defiantly. "Yes, I am."

"_Snowpaw_!" hissed Cyri, alarmed. Did her mother _want_ to be chased to the border by a Clanful of angry cats?

Owlflight, true to his name, was blinking his amber eyes very owlishly. He seemed to gather his scattered thoughts, and then, making everyone jump, he turned tail and bolted towards the ShadowClan camp.

**:( Short. And not much happened. But it was meant to be - next chapter, I promise. Things will start happening.**


	21. Nineteen

**Thanks to Wolfgaze, xXStarless NightXx, xXThunderspiritXx, Dreamspirit13, Icethroat21, Rubyblaze, Brightspirit, Penmaster51, hi, NewProphecy, allygirl56, and ShiningheartofThunderClan ****for reviewing! Well, I _was_ meant to be editing my old _Storm_ fics after I finished this, but... Plot bunnies. Sometimes you hate 'em, sometimes you love 'em, and sometimes they bare their evil little bunny fangs and attempt to gouge out the eyeballs of your characters. This time, they infested around my _Storm_ series and told me to write a fanfic of my own fanfic 0.o What the...? Okay, plot bunnies, okay! Whatever you say! ...So, thanks to the sadistic plot bunnies, I'm going to write another fic. About _Storm_ and its sequels.**

**And I will _try_ to make the chapters longer. =blinks nervously= I'll do my best, 'kay?**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Warriors, but I do own this fish. Um...**

Nineteen

Now, another emotion was simmering inside of Cyri. It was a new emotion. She didn't think that she had ever felt it before. It bubbled and seemed to boil red-hot in her blood. It was a few heartbeats before she realised that she was feeling _angry_ with her mother.

"What was _that_ for?" the kit spat. "Now he _knows_ that we're here, and Russetstar will throw us out for sure!"

Snowpaw simply stared at her sadly. "You... Cyri... Your brother is dead. And... I have to tell you... your father is dead, too. You are my everything, and seeing you..." She shook her pretty white head from side to side a few times. "Cyri, you're different from when I abandoned you. You've _changed _- into some cat sort of... defensive."

"Yeah?" Cyri didn't particularly want to hear her mother's weak pleading. She couldn't understand why she had ever longed for this cat to come back into her life. In fact, Cyri wasn't quite sure why she was so angry, or where this cold side of her had come from - only that Russetstar would be disappointed. Russetstar wouldn't want her. "Well, you've changed too. You've become a... you've become a soppy _mousebrain_."

Snowpaw gasped as though Cyri had raked her claws across her face. Frostpaw and Jaypaw's heads were flicking from side to side as though they were watching two kits bat a dead mouse back and forth.

The white she-cat twitched her ears. "You've become ShadowClan," she whispered brokenly.

Cyri's mouth fell open. Her fury diminished for a heartbeat, but before she could say anything, a thundering of paws made her head turn. The familiar, slightly putrid but at the same time comfortable, scent of ShadowClan hit her nose. Cyri's heart sank. The cats of ShadowClan were hostile now - at this moment, she felt as though Frostpaw and Jaypaw were her best friends.

At the head of the party was Snaketail, the deputy. Obviously, Russetstar hadn't deemed the occasion important enough to attend herself. Cyri was pleased - there was a commanding aura about the ginger she-cat that would, at this moment, probably unbalance her in a way that her missing paw could never do.

Snaketail was flanked by Jaypaw's mentor, Shrewfoot, and the cat that had sounded the alarm, Owlflight. The new warrior Yellowflight stood behind him, along with another warrior named Redstorm, and Lionpaw's brother, Thistlepaw.

Mixed emotions filled Cyri. On one paw, she was delighted to see all the cats she had spent the last moon with again. On the other paw, was terrified that they were going to snap at her paws until she and Snowpaw left the territory forever. Another part of her felt disappointed that Lionpaw was not on the patrol - but then, she reminded herself, Lionpaw was a medicine cat. She was also curious as to why the patrol was so large; five warriors, one of them the deputy, and an apprentice, to see off a wandering rogue and a three-legged kit?

"Why have you returned here?" Snaketail's rough mew was directed at Cyri.

Cyri gulped. She certainly wasn't going to point at Jaypaw - she still didn't know what he meant about missing her, but she suspected that he hadn't really _meant_ all the teasing. However, Cyri noticed that Frostpaw had been very bitter about the prospect of bringing her back. It couldn't have been clearer that Frostpaw was quite scared of Cyri, and was glad to see the back of her. Cyri wasn't a great one for revenge, but they really wouldn't punish her _too_ badly...

"I came with Frostpaw," Cyri mewed quietly.

Snaketail's head whipped around to the grey-and-white apprentice, who looked horrified. "What? You... why?"

Jaypaw stepped in quickly. "'Cause we thought that we could stop a battle if we just gave her to ThunderClan," he gabbled, his mew high.

Shrewfoot's eyes darkened. "_You_ were involved in this? My own apprentice?"

Jaypaw bowed his head. "Yes, Shrewfoot, I'm sorry."

"Avert a _battle_?" Yellowflight kneaded her paws on the ground. "Didn't you know? ThunderClan have already crossed the border. Russetstar has already sent some of our cats to fight them."

Frostpaw's eyes stretched so wide that the whites were visible. "What...? You're joking?"

"Typical that an apprentice wouldn't know about such things," replied Yellowflight swiftly. Frostpaw opened her jaws to deliver a retort, but Snaketail cut over him.

"Hush!" he snapped. "Save your trivial arguments for later. We need to discuss the matter at hand."

"What is there to discuss?" piped up Thistlepaw. His eyes were fixed almost hungrily on Snowpaw and Cyri. "We can just give them to ThunderClan."

"Hey!" Cyri burst out. The new, assertive side of her was lifting its head again. "I refuse to be _given_ to any cat."

Snaketail made an angry noise. "We must hurry. ThunderClan will have sent reinforcements by now - and Sandpaw confided in me that she saw some of ThunderClan's strongest fighters there already."

"Sandpaw?"

"Yes, she was hurt in the battle. Mintcloud took her back to camp before rejoining the fight. Flamefur and Lionpaw are tending to her now." Snaketail shot Cyri a curious, sideways glance.

"Lionkit must be worried..." muttered Cyri under her breath. Sandpaw was Lionpaw's sister.

Snaketail was still looking at Cyri in that curious way. "Would you object to coming back to our camp? I'm sure that Russetstar would like to... discuss with you. And the ThunderClan cat, of course," he added, dipping his head to Snowpaw courteously.

Snowpaw, who had stayed very quiet through all of this, spoke up. "I'm not a ThunderClan cat any more. I live alone."

"Of course, of course," Snaketail mewed, nodding. He gestured behind him with his tabby-striped tail. "Shall we...?"

Cyri didn't miss his change in attitude. He had obviously decided to be unnaturally polite. It was unnerving - but Cyri knew that her best chance was to play the same game.

"We will go with you," she mewed, speaking for Snowpaw, too. Dipping her head to each of the cats in turn, even Thistlepaw, she followed Snaketail, more excited than she let on, back to the place which she very nearly considered home.

***

"Snaketail!" Russetstar rushed out of her den and across camp, looking harried. "I had to send out more warriors - Cloudheart and Darkblaze - Mintcloud came back and said that Whitewing's out there, and Cinderheart. Poppyfrost is there, too, and Mintcloud says that she's fighting to kill, well, they all are. Kinkfur's dead already, and ThunderClan's medicine cat, Jayfeather, I'm not sure who-" Russetstar broke off as she looked around and saw Cyri and Snowpaw. Her eyes widened. "Great... Great StarClan!" she muttered weakly, staring mainly at Snowpaw, who had gone rigid.

"Did you say Poppyfrost?" Snowpaw ignored Russetstar's gaping. "My mother?"

"Your mother," mewed Russetstar feebly. "Well, that would explain a lot..."

"I've got to go there, seriously..." Snowpaw mewed urgently. "What if my mother's hurt?"

"Will you be fighting for ShadowClan, or ThunderClan?" asked Snaketail sharply.

"Dear _StarClan_!" exploded Snowpaw angrily. Cyri jumped - she was not used to her mother being so forward. "This is _my mother_. I'm not going to be fighting, I'm going to be making sure she's okay!"

"Careful," warned Snaketail. "It could be a ploy."

Snowpaw narrowed her eyes. "For a couple of mousetails..." she threatened.

Snaketail blinked arrogantly. "I _dare_ you, foxdung."

"Snaketail!" Russetstar mewed loudly, wrenching her eyes away from Cyri's mother. "Control yourself!"

The tabby tom ducked his head.

"Take your patrol," ordered Russetstar," and join the battle. I'm not sure if this is worth risking more cats over, yet, but..." She glanced over at a spiky-furred, tabby shape in the centre of camp, which Crowfrost was grooming. "We shall see."

**Ah, much longness ^_^ I hope that was good. We're reaching the climax, so there's not a great deal of this fanfic left to go. I would reckon at about... um... four-ish chapters at minimum? And maybe an epilogue? I'm not too sure, that's just a guess. I kind of like the new Cyri, though she scares me, too. =shivers=**


	22. Twenty

**Thanks to xXStarless NightXx, Icethroat21, Rubyblaze, Wolfgaze, Fioralba, xXThunderspiritXx, allygirl36, Malleh, Cinderpaw11, CRAZEDREADER96 A.K.A JET LEE, NewProphecy, WildCroconaw, Penmaster51, Ryuchie, and Spottedtalon (who reviewed about ten times ^_^) ****for reviewing! Well, we've reached chapter twenty! =claps happily= With over two hundred reviews! You guys are crazy! I love writing. And life. And John and Edward's debut single. Which has now come out. And was the inspiration for this chapter. At least, I'm listening to it on repeat while I write. And this chapter will be known as... =drumroll= The pre-action-y, climax-ful chapter! ...Okay, I'm working on the name, okay?**

**Oh, and a warning to all Spottedleaf-lovers - she will be bashed a bit on this chapter :)**

**DISCLAIMER: 'So... I've been thinking.' 'Oh... that's nice. You think often?' This completely random conversation with myself had nothing to do with the fact that I don't own Warriors. Which I don't.**

Twenty

It was dark. Cyri found this most unhelpful.

"Ouch," she muttered, tripping on a loose stone and falling face-down on the ground. Scrambling to her paws - she was getting a lot better at doing this when she fell - she continued to pick her way through the murky gloom.

The battle was still going on - Cyri could hear the screeches of cats from a ways in front of her. She shivered. She had never seen a battle before. Already, she didn't like it. Cats attacking each other, destroying and killing, hurting and hating. And over what?

_Me_, thought Cyri, feeling overwhelmingly guilty. Russetstar had already grudgingly explained to her the reason for the battle. Kinkfur didn't have to die. Nor did the ThunderClan medicine cat, Jayfeather. If only she had never existed... She knew what it was like to lose loved ones. Half had impressed upon her the finality of seeing death.

Her hard shell from before, Cyri now realised, had been little short of a simple façade, a face that she just put on in front of other cats. Now that she was alone, she had retreated back to the timid kit she had been before.

But was she really so timid, if she was going out like this, in the dead of night, to try and stop the battle? Cyri guessed that she had, as Snowpaw had put it, become more of a ShadowClan cat. The thought scared her, but it also made her shiver with excitement. What new prospects were open to her now?

Snowpaw had left earlier - Cyri had heard her go. Now, Cyri had managed to pluck up the courage to do the same.

She had a vague, half-formed plan in her head that she was going to storm the battle, shout that she was there and that there was no need to fight anymore. In her mind, every cat would retreat, bowing their heads, and Cyri would be ThunderClan's prisoner.

_Well, if that's the price to pay for stopping so many deaths, I'll happily pay it,_ Cyri told herself determinedly.

She had not seen Lionpaw again - she was afraid that her friend might have tried to stop her, and, besides, Lionpaw would be too caught up looking after Sandpaw. Out of everyone, Cyri knew how she was feeling.

The yowls were getting louder. Cyri stopped, feeling frightened. What if a cat didn't know who she was, and just killed her, tossed her body limply aside? What if they all purred at the prospect of a kit trying to stop them?

_Oh, be quiet, Cyri. That's depressing. Snowpaw's down there. Our mother, remember?_

Cyri twitched her whiskers nervously. Now she was hearing things inside her head, she was sure. Because that wasn't her own voice. That voice brought back raw, poignant memories of a happier time.

_Don't think you're going mad, 'cause you're not. Oh, honestly... No, wait, I need to get out of your head, then maybe you'll get it. Wait a heartbeat..._

"...There."

Cyri blinked, and stumbled backwards.

Half had just appeared in front of her.

"H-Half?" whispered Cyri croakily.

But... It couldn't be. Half had been four moons old when he had died. This Half looked older, closer to Cyri's own age... and he wasn't as hesitant, shy as he had been when he was alive.

"Um, yeah." Half flicked his ear back. "'Kay, don't... don't be scared. No, seriously."

"Why...?" mewed Cyri throatily. "But you... you..."

"Yeah, I'm dead, I get it," snapped Half. Seeing Cyri flinch, he backtracked. "Ah... Sorry, Cyri. I'm not so good with this whole 'I'm not alive' thing yet. I can't breathe, or eat, or anything, and that's pretty annoying, but get this! I can age!"

Cyri gaped at her brother. "But you..." she said, trying to convince herself that she was having some sort of dream, "you are dead. But you're here. And... you're here."

"Well, turns out our mother's from ThunderClan," Half mewed cheerfully. "So I got to join this weird place called 'StarClan'... Well, kind of... not fully, I'm more like a kind of... outcast... ish... I guess. Which I why I can age, I think. So I'll grow up with you, and stuff. This is why I look older than I did when that fox... Anyway, it's pretty cool. I got more confidence in this place, which is good, I s'pose."

Cyri felt overloaded with information. "This is too much..." she murmured, tapping the stump of her paw on a rock as she tried to concentrate.

Half's amber eyes were now fixed on Cyri's paw. "I didn't get to that fox quick enough, huh?"

"It's nothing, it's fine," muttered Cyri, embarrassed. "You didn't need to die..." The word constricted in her throat.

"No, I didn't, really, did I?" murmured Half seriously. "Listen, Cyri, I haven't got much time, so there's no point any more beating around the bush. I have to tell you why I'm here."

Cyri was starting to slightly believe in this Half-premonition, or dream, or whatever he was, a little more now. Or maybe she just _wanted_ to believe it. "Why? This isn't a dream, is it?" she mewed suddenly.

"No, no... It's not a dream, I'm real... ish... Well, anyway..." To her surprise, Half grimaced. "This other StarClanny cat came to visit me. It was weird. She was all full of 'dear one's and 'little one's and it was... She was a bit creepy, to tell you the truth. Anyway, she was called Spottedleaf - which I decided was a really stupid name - and she told me to tell you that..." Half scrunched up his eyes and imitated an almost echoing, mystical voice. "'She is still your mother, but this battle is not your battle.' I said I would tell you - I wanted to see you, anyway, so here I am."

"What do you mean 'this battle is not your battle'?" Cyri furrowed her forehead in confusion. "It is! It's my fault!"

Half shrugged. "I don't know. Just passing on the message. Actually," Half looked around, and then leaned closer, "I wouldn't put much stock in it. She didn't seem like the sharpest claw in the pad."

Cyri purred. She liked her brother a little more confident; he was funny and friendly. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Thanks. Some cat would have flayed me alive if I hadn't delivered that message." Half made a face. "Sorry, flayed me _dead_."

"Oh, don't make jokes like that, Half, please," begged Cyri. She didn't like it when he drew attention to the fact that he wasn't alive.

"Sorry." Half leaned in and licked the top of Cyri's head. "I have to go now, Cyri."

"Oh, but..." Loss swam in Cyri's amber eyes. "Can't you stay?"

"I would if I could, Cyri, honestly, but I really, really have to go."

"Why?"

Sadness clouded Half's features. "It's a StarClan thing, I guess."

"I... Well... I know that you want to," mewed Cyri. She had to be strong. She would get a goodbye this time at least, and that was something, right? "I'll find out when I join you, I suppose." The speckled grey she-cat licked Half's cheek. "I love you, Half."

"Love you, Cyri," Half whispered. "Goodbye."

His black and white fur faded until Cyri was staring at the blackness of the forest.

"Oh, and you can stop looking like a stunned rabbit, too..." Half's voice mewed, from what seemed to be nowhere. Cyri couldn't repress a purr.

As if her ears had started working properly again, Cyri noticed that the battle was still going on. Howls of pain could still be heard.

Cyri gazed fiercely at the spot where Half had disappeared for a few moments more, before speeding off towards the border as fast as her paws could carry her.

_She is still your mother, but this battle is not your battle._


	23. Twenty One

**Thanks to xXStarless NightXx, NewProphecy, Icethroat21, xXThunderspiritXx, allygirl56, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, a reviewer with a penname that fanfiction makes into a link and won't let me post (sorry), starpaw, Fioralba, Sweet Cake - Cupcake - Mudcake, Spottedtalon, Darkness of the Eclipse, and Penmaster51 ****for reviewing! **

**DISCLAIMER: Ye- =Erins loom in background carrying knives and practicing their best 'I'm a mad axe-murderer' looks= No! No! I don't own Warriors, okay??? (Note: No real Erins took part in the making of this disclaimer :P)**

Twenty One

It was a whirl of colour - a blur. Cyri couldn't see anything but blood. She couldn't hear anything but the tearing of flesh under claws, and the howls of hurt cats.

She had arrived in the heart of the battle, but she couldn't hear herself think, let alone yowl out that there was no need to fight anymore.

She stumbled backwards and jumped as her back paw sank into something soft and furry. Her heart rate accelerated - not another dead cat? She turned, the screams of fallen cats ringing in her ears.

It wasn't a ShadowClan cat - even in the confusion of the battle, Cyri could smell its squirrel-tainted, ThunderClan smell. The cat was a lot larger than her - _a warrior,_ Cyri thought - and as she stared, Cyri became aware that it was a she-cat with a pure white pelt. A single, bloody wound stretched across her flank, which was rising and falling rapidly. The speckled she-cat forced herself into a state of mandatory calm.

The ThunderClan cat was unconscious, and losing blood rapidly. She would die if she didn't get help soon.

But Cyri didn't have time to worry about cats from opposing Clans. A new idea had taken root in her mind - Snowpaw was here somewhere. Cyri knew that she had been angry with her mother before, but...

_Where would she be?_ wondered Cyri. _Wait, didn't she say... Her mother was here somewhere?_

Cyri's grandmother. Why was she here? She wasn't in a Cl-

Something snapped into place. It had been too much information to take in last time, but hadn't Half said that Snowpaw was originally a _ThunderClan_ cat?

Cyri gazed at the fallen cat on the ground. _Did Snowpaw maybe know her? But... Should I feel responsible?_ Cyri's forehead creased in confusion. _But I don't feel any loyalty towards this cat at all! If anything..._

The three-legged she-cat looked across the battlefield, recognising the stocky, dark-furred shape of Scorchfire barrelling into a reddish tabby ThunderClan tom.

_His kit's in the nursery..._ thought Cyri anxiously. _Sorrelkit will be counting on him to come back._

Cyri shook her head. The _ShadowClan_ cats were the ones she felt towards, the ones she knew. Not the sinister, unfriendly ThunderClan.

And what was it that she had thought before? _I don't have time to worry about opposing cats._

This, Cyri knew for certain.

As much as she didn't like it, as much as she wanted to be neutral land, she... She was ShadowClan.

***

_Calm, Cyri. Calm._

The grey she-cat whipped her head around, steadying herself with her only front paw as she did so. The first signs of panic were setting in on her, and she had begun to doubt herself. What if that white cat that she had left had been Snowpaw? What if she had left her mother to die? And even if it wasn't... Cyri had since remembered that a faulty blow had already taken the ThunderClan medicine cat's life.

She had thought that the battle would be shorter than this. The stench of blood was around her as ever more cats appeared to surge from all corners of her vision. Surely this was more than just two Clans?

Cyri shook her head. _Get a hold of yourself!_ she told herself sternly. _There's still-_

She lost her trail of thought as an alarmingly solid shape slammed into her side. Her first thought was Snowpaw. Of course - her mother had found her, and she was just embarrassing her as usual...

But, no. This cat was larger than Snowpaw. Its fur was the wrong colour - instead of soft white, it was patched with different colours; a tortoiseshell. And the scent that so often hung around Snowpaw - ThunderClan, Cyri guessed, even after all these moons - was far stronger, more concentrated.

Cyri fluffed out the fur along her spine as she tried to hobble back to an appropriate standing position. This wasn't Snowpaw at all. This was a lean, powerful ThunderClan cat.

_...and she's fighting to kill. Well, they all are._

Russetstar's words echoed in Cyri's numb mind as the tortoiseshell she-cat drew back her lips in a vicious snarl.

"ShadowClan!" she hissed.

_No... she thinks I'm an enemy warrior! Can't she see that I'm just a kit? I can't fight - I can't even hunt!_ Thoughts whirled uselessly around in Cyri's mind as she stood there, frozen to the ground. She would have given any amount of prey to have been able to dart away like a normal cat, weaving through the crowd as though it were water.

The ThunderClan she-cat bunched her muscles, as though to spring, but then she seemed to change her mind.

"Swallowpaw!" she yowled over her shoulder.

A pale brown apprentice squeezed her way through a cluster of fighting cats. "Yes?"

The tortoiseshell she-cat jerked her head towards Cyri, who was still standing there as though rooted to the spot.

The apprentice stared at Cyri. Her eyes widened, and her head flicked back to the tortoiseshell. "But, what...? You want me to...? No, Poppyfrost, I can't!"

Cyri gave a tiny gasp. _Poppyfrost._

_Did you say Poppyfrost? My mother?_

A hazy image of Snowpaw talking to - or _at_ - Russetstar swam to the surface of Cyri's mind. It seemed to have happened several lifetimes ago.

"What do you mean?" Poppyfrost looked irritated. "She's an enemy apprentice. You have to defend your Clan."

"But she's not, though!" insisted Swallowpaw. "Look at her paw!"

If this cat was Poppyfrost, then where was Snowpaw? Cyri craned her neck eagerly, half-expecting Snowpaw to come bursting out of the crowd. She _had_ said that she was going to look for Poppyfrost...

"What about it?"

"Poppyfrost, didn't you hear Onestar say...?" Swallowpaw gaped at the older cat for a few heartbeats. "This... Poppyfrost, this must be Cyri. The kit with three paws." She paused hesitantly. "Snowpaw's daughter."

Cyri didn't hear much of their conversation - she was still searching hopefully for any sign of Snowpaw. Therefore, she was totally thrown when Poppyfrost rushed at her and started covering her in licks, much like Snowpaw did often.

"What? Wha-" Cyri wriggled desperately, trying to shy away from the ThunderClan warrior, but her efforts proved futile.

Poppyfrost rasped her tongue across Cyri's fur.

"I'm so..." Her voice was thick and muffled, either with Cyri's fur or from emotion. Cyri couldn't tell. "You... You're my granddaughter!"

She released the speckled she-cat, who backed away and tripped over a tussock of grass. _Why do these clumps of grass always insist on being right behind me when I back away?_ she wondered, embarrassed.

The cat two tail-lengths away from Cyri did a double-take as he heard Poppyfrost's affectionate tone. He seemed not to notice when his foe, Mintcloud, took the opportunity to deliver an extra bite to the tip of his ear.

"That's... Wait, wait, wait!" snapped the tom impatiantly, as Mintcloud made as though to attack again. "Look! It's that kit... Snowpaw's daughter." He gazed at Cyri with a kind of wonder on his face. It made Cyri feel mildly uncomfortable.

The message was slowly spreading. It was the same everywhere Cyri looked - ThunderClan cats noticed what was going on, stopped attacking, and stared at Cyri in amazement. ShadowClan cats noticed that their enemy had stopped resisting, glanced across at Cyri, and looked horrified.

A temporary calm was setting over the battlefield now, as attention was turned on Cyri and Poppyfrost. Swallowpaw had long since left the scene to gossip with a brown ThunderClan tom.

Just as Cyri was wishing that Snowpaw would just _appear_, and divert attention from her, an eerie wail rose from the crowd.

"Whitewing is dead!"


	24. Twenty Two

**Thanks to xXStarless NightXx, Fioralba, NewProphecy, Spottedtalon, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, Icethroat21, Penmaster51, Malleh, and Darkness of the Eclipse ****for reviewing! I love you guys, honestly.**** Haha, I'm glad you all like my new name ^_^ And I didn't _mean_ to kill off Whitewing... honest... Actually, I was meaning to kill off another cat entirely. Whitewing was my favourite character in NP (which was probably one of the reasons why I biasedly... which isn't a word... made her deputy). But she was the deputy, and Snaketail wasn't there, and I needed... =dramatic sigh=... Drama.**

**DISCLAIMER: Cyri doesn't own Warriors. But Cyri owns Cyri. But Cyri doesn't own _Cyri_ Cyri. As in, the me Cyri... My head hurts.**

Twenty Two

It was another of those moments which simply swept Cyri up. She didn't know who this 'Whitewing' was, and she wasn't very sure why every cat was making such a fuss about it, either.

At least, the ThunderClan cats were. They had stopped staring at Cyri as though she were some foreign cat sent from the skies, and started to panic.

The ShadowClan cats held their ground, seemingly struck dumb by this news. Apparently, they knew who 'Whitewing' was, and were shocked to the point that they were forgetting to attack their enemies.

A senior-looking, dark grey she-cat took charge.

"Cats of ThunderClan, retreat!" she yowled loudly. "We shall discuss this back at camp!"

To Cyri's immense surprise, all of the ThunderClan cats nodded and followed suit, the grey cat leading. Some looked a little peeved at being ordered around like this, however.

Cyri wondered if the grey she-cat was ThunderClan's deputy. After all, every cat was obeying her orders, like cats often obeyed Snaketail...

The small she-cat watched the ThunderClan cats file out of the battlefield, leaving behind them only bloodstains and-

"Hey!" Cyri hadn't noticed Poppyfrost approach from behind her. The tortoiseshell she-cat had picked her up by the scruff, as though she were a five moon kit.

Cyri struggled, but her efforts were futile. She tried to dig her claws into the ground. She attempted to twist around in her awkward position and bite her grandmother. She had no wish to be dragged off in this undignified manner, carried by the scruff like a kit of two moons.

"Come on, now..." mumbled Poppyfrost through Cyri's fur. Then she trailed off abruptly. Cyri thought she knew why. Rage bubbled inside her again.

"You don't even bother to find out my _name_!" she burst out angrily. "You call yourself my _grandmother_?"

She felt Poppyfrost flinch. Cyri thought that she felt an increased pressure around her collar.

"Where's my mother?" demanded Cyri, feeling reckless. She didn't know, as she hadn't the last time, why she felt so annoyed. All she knew was that her grandmother appeared to be kidnapping her. And if she wasn't going to take her to Snowpaw, Cyri was going to _make_ her.

"S-she's here?" Poppyfrost let go of Cyri's scruff at this news. Cyri dropped to the ground with an ungainly _thud_.

_Oh, thanks a lot..._ the six-moon-old apprentice thought, annoyed, as she got to her paws and shook the dust from her pelt.

Poppyfrost was now glancing around wildly. The news that her kit might be somewhere here had caused her to enter a state of slight madness. Cyri cocked her head as she watched her grandmother dart around through the ThunderClan cats, asking if they had seen Snowpaw.

"...No...? Mousewhisker, seriously, she's somewhere here! No, I mean it... I don't care if she's insane, she's my _daughter_, for StarClan's sake, Hazeltail!" Poppyfrost's mew became high-pitched and somewhat strangulated. Cyri was quite startled.

"Would you just _be quiet_?" burst out a fluffy grey ThunderClan she-cat. Poppyfrost looked taken aback by her outburst.

"Listen, Dovewing, that's all very-" the tortoiseshell she-cat began, recovering slightly, but the cat called Dovewing cut across her.

"No, _no_!" She shook her head firmly. "My mother's just been _killed_, Poppyfrost, couldn't you show a little more humility? Act as though you _care_, for StarClan's sake! How d'you think Ivypool's going to react when I tell her? She'll have a heart attack! She'll start worrying, she won't produce any milk... There's Firekit, Ashkit, and Tawnykit to think about, you know! And Birchfall! Cloudtail, Brightheart! _Great_._ StarClan_. We all thought that Snowpaw was dead for a long time, and who knows? She probably still is, maybe Russetstar just wants a stir! She's supposed to be half-mad anyway, like Hazeltail said..." Dovewing was ranting now, apparently quite unaware that she had the eyes of every cat upon her.

Cyri put her head on the other side. This cat was surely Whitewing's daughter. Whitewing...

Her heart gave a sickening jolt as her eyes drifted to a point right behind the still-seething Dovewing - two ThunderClan cats, half carrying, half dragging the body of a white she-cat.

There was a single wound, encrusted with drying blood, stretching across her unmoving flank. Cyri knew that she had seen that wound before... but when the bearer of it was alive.

Whitewing. Cyri felt sick with herself. She could have saved her, but no. She had refused. And now, Whitewing was dead.

There was no question about it now. Whether Cyri liked it or not, ThunderClan was the only place that held answers. Ignoring Darkblaze, who was hissing frantically at her whilst beckoning with his tail, Cyri slunk away, behind the trees. She intended to follow the ThunderClan cats back to their camp.

***

"I say this before the body of Whitewing, so that her spirit may hear and approve of my choice." Lionstar flexed his claws on the ledge that he was standing on. Cyri peered out from behind a bush on the edge of camp. She was most interested, as she had never seen a deputy being named - but her belly still squeezed uncomfortably with guilt. The ThunderClan leader closed his eyes as he delivered his choice. "Millie will be the new deputy of ThunderClan."

Cyri could see that this news was quite surprising. The grey she-cat who had led the ThunderClan cats away from the battle had her jaw hanging open in surprise. Maybe she had expected to be named...?

A pale grey tom with dark grey stripes nudged his neighbour, a striped silver tabby, who was looking stunned. "Millie, Millie!" he chanted, giving the silver she-cat a lick on the cheek.

"Millie, Millie, Millie!" a pale brown she-cat with a stripe along her spine caught the chant, and a dark brown queen emerged from the nursery to cheer joyfully. Her kits tumbled around her paws.

Cyri had now realised what was odd about Lionstar's choice. This 'Millie' cat... didn't have a Clan name. She must not have been Clanborn. However, more cats had now picked up the chant, and the camp was ringing with Millie's name.

As they died down, the silver tabby she-cat next to the cat who had started the chant rose shakily to her paws.

"I... I don't know what to say," she stuttered. "Are you serious, Lionstar? I mean, I'm not Clanborn, I used to be a kittypet..."

"I'm sure," Lionstar mewed firmly. "Remember Firestar?"

"But... but..." Millie blinked. "I don't have a Clan name, what would I be if I ever led the Clan - Milliestar?"

"You'd still be Millie, and if any cat dared to complain, they'd have my clawmarks on their face for the rest of their lives!" mewed the pale brown she-cat boldly.

There was another cheer. Millie had clearly turned into a highly popular choice.

The silver she-cat looked mollified. "I... okay," she gave in. "I'll do my best, and... I'm honoured, Lionstar." She dipped her head and sat down again.

Cyri was now barely listening to the ceremony, however. She had just caught sight of a familiar white pelt weaving in and out of the cats. Her ears were grey-tipped.

_Answers, answers, answers, answers, answers._

She was getting somewhere.

**And how I detest that ending :/ =rips out hair in frustration= It says 'she was getting somewhere' but we're really not, at the moment, are we? =sigh= I know how I want it to _end_, my characters are just taking a long time actually wanting to get there. Ah well... as the old saying goes, "We get there when we get there!" ...Or was that just what Half said when I was arguing with him about turning up in the last chapter?**

**Half: Yeah, that was me. =fades away=**


	25. Twenty Three

**Thanks to NewProphecy, Fioralba, xXStarless NightXx, Alita Black, Ryuchie, Darkness of the Eclipse, xXThunderspiritXx, and Shiningheart of ThunderClan ****for reviewing! Just had a bit of a pep talk with Cyri and Half... It didn't go too well. Cyri got in a huff with me about this chapter not being in her point of view, and then Half started chanting 'Jaypaw loves Cyri, Jaypaw loves Cyri'... I had to go and get... gulp... Frostpaw... to sort it out.**

**DISCLAIMER: The epiphany of the chapter is that... I know, I know that it's hard to believe, but... believe it or not... Cyri doesn't own Warriors. =collective gasp= =some woman in the eighth row faints= (Jokes. I'm nowhere near as good as the actual books :P)**

Twenty Three

"I mean, you _could_ have at least_ tried_ to make her listen!"

"Sorry!" Half shrank back, cowering from the angry she-cat. He wasn't all too sure what Spottedleaf was meowing on about. One moment, he had been lazily dozing on the grass, the next, Spottedleaf had appeared and started ranting at him.

However, Half had to admit that he was impressed - he hadn't thought that this Spottedleaf had had a spine at all. Indeed, he had been convinced up to this point that she started every sentence that she spoke with; "So, as you understand, dearest..." in clear, mystic tones that made Half want to go to sleep. But now - now! - she was actually shouting at him. Properly.

_Actually, what is she shouting about...? _Half wondered with a guilty start. Quickly, he focused his attention on the words that Spottedleaf was mewing.

"I mean... _For StarClan's sake_! Couldn't you _try_?"

Oh. The Cyri thing. Half's face fell. "I gave her the message..." the black-and-white tom muttered sulkily, eyes on the ground.

Spottedleaf looked as though she was holding back from rolling her amber eyes and ranting some more with extreme difficulty. In a tense voice of clearly forced calm, she mewed, "Yes, I know you did, dearest, but you didn't cast it in a very believable light, did you?"

Half gulped guiltily.

_She's gone back to the 'dearest' thing, too..._

"You understood, of course, that it was incredibly important that your sister did _not_ attend the battle?"

Half swallowed his guilt. What? Of course he hadn't! He'd just been told to deliver the message, which he had done... And now this mousebrained star-filled-head was telling him that he should have automatically known _why_ Cyri was not to go to the battle.

_And 'attend the battle'..._ Half thought scathingly. _Who _says_ things like that?_

"No, I _don't_ actually." Half's voice was exactly in the same dangerously-calm tone as Spottedleaf's had been in. Spottedleaf flicked her whiskers. Maybe she had sensed this.

"Listen, Half, dear kit..." she murmured quietly. "A life rested on this decision."

"What?" Half's mew became sharp and alert. He shot to his paws, tail twitching anxiously. "Cyri's going to-"

"No, not your sister," Spottedleaf reassured him. "Another."

Half sat down again, slightly abashed by this outburst. "Who?" he muttered at his paws.

"Look." Spottedleaf turned towards a small puddle of water a couple of foxlengths away from Half and touched it with her tail. Ripples disturbed the surface, but when they cleared, Half saw that the reflection in the puddle was no longer his puzzled face.

Instead, a forest, scattered with drops of drying blood and clumps of fur, could be seen. Half leaned closer, intrigued. The forest was dark, pine trees shadowing the sun. It looked ominous, and Half could just tell - he somehow_ knew _- that a fight had broken out there.

As Half stared, a small tomcat, a little bigger than Half himself, appeared at the edge of the trees. He seemed to have materialised out of the gloom. Half's brow furrowed in confusion as the tomcat started to pick his way carefully across the bloodstained battlefield, wincing whenever he stepped on any spilt blood.

As if on a whim, he stopped and raised his head. His mew was weak, fearful. "Cyri?"

Ripples spread back over the puddle and the image faded. Half turned to face Spottedleaf. He saw his own worry reflected in her eyes.

Funny. He was now united with a cat who, yesterday, he had given his personal '_Most annoying cat of the season_' award to.

***

Snowpaw weaved in and out of the cats, murmuring into their ears. Not every cat had noticed that she was there, yet, but she was working her way slowly through the masses of her old Clan. An odd, warm feeling close to her heart had risen inside her - the same feeling, she realised, that she had got whenever she had looked at Pepper.

Pepper. Snowpaw blinked fiercely, stifling her sadness.

Willowstorm and the rest of the queens, Briarfern, Roseflower, Ivypool, and Icecloud had been the first cats she had alerted of her return. Willowstorm had been the cat she was closest to in the Clan. Snowpaw felt a sudden happiness for her friend, as she noticed the tawny-pelted she-cat whispering the news into Foxleap's ear. His eyes became as round as moons, and his head whipped around as he searched for his daughter. Snowpaw quickly ducked away - she would have the reunion with her father later.

"It's me," she breathed, almost silently, into Mistypool's ear. The young medicine cat gave a quiet gasp, but did not turn around.

"S-Snowpaw?" she squeaked.

"Shhh," warned Snowpaw, quickly slipping away.

_Where's Poppyfrost? _Snowpaw stretched her neck, trying to pick out the tortoiseshell pelt of her mother from the crowd. She knew that Poppyfrost would kick up a fuss - she would need to be told gently. _Gently_.

Ah - there she was. Willowstorm was muttering frantically in her ear, and by the looks of it, trying to calm her down.

_My_ _mother._ Snowpaw's heart seemed to swell in her chest. But she could smell Poppyfrost's almost hysteric scent. _Great StarClan! Calm down!_

Snowpaw made her way swiftly through the crowd, trying her best to keep under the cover of the cats she or Willowstorm had already told.

However, it appeared that she had not been careful enough.

"_Snowpaw_?"

Snowpaw froze in her tracks.

Lionstar's mew was disbelieving. Snowpaw licked her chest fur self-consciously as every eye turned to her. The cats who were still not aware of her return gaped in amazement.

"My kit!"

Snowpaw found herself being smothered in licks again, just like a kit in the nursery. Safe near her mother.

"My kit," Poppyfrost kept saying, rasping Snowpaw over the ears. "My _kit_."

But, as happy as she was to see her Clan - _it's almost like my second family,_ she thought - she knew what she really wanted.

_I want _my_ kit._

**Well, we didn't see even a whisker of Cyri in that one, did we? Don't worry; we will in the next chapter. I wonder if anyone can guess who the tom Half saw was? I purposely didn't describe him in much detail, but I thought that it was quite obvious anyhow :P And, I've just realised - about four chapters ago, I promised about four more chapters and an epilogue. Well, next chapter definitely won't be the epilogue, so I suppose there's more to come than I predicted!**


	26. Twenty Four

**Thanks to Darkness of the Eclipse, NewProphecy, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, xXStarless NightXx, xXThunderspiritXx, WildCroconaw, Cinderpaw11, ally56, Penmaster51, Fioralba, Alita Black, Spottedtalon, and Ryuchie ****for reviewing! I've just been looking through some family trees of my cats... And flipping StarClan, there's a lot of incest! =shudders= This is what happens when you have a huge character-base - Roseflower goes and has kits with her uncle...**

**DISCLAIMER: =picking petals off a flower= I own Warriors, I own Warriors not, I own Warriors, I own Warriors not, I own Warriors, I own Warriors not... =flower runs out of petals= DARN IT!!**

Twenty Four

"Oh!" Cyri gasped softly as her mother was enveloped by the whole of her old Clan, who were purring and looking generally astonished to see her in their midst again. Cyri felt like she was invading on something private, but when she looked closer... Actually, not all of the Clan looked pleased that she had returned. A pale brown apprentice nudged a brown apprentice next to her nervously, and a black and white tom, as well as a few other cats on the outskirts of the group, looked downright uneasy.

However, a long-furred dark grey tom was bouncing around Snowpaw like a kit of two moons, looking overjoyed. A tabby-and-white she-cat stared at him from what Cyri recognised as the nursery with with a slightly hurt expression on her features.

But still, Snowpaw didn't look happy. She looked up from Poppyfrost's frantic licking - _that cat is seriously overbearing_, thought Cyri - her eyes darting around as though she was looking for something.

_It's me, isn't it?_ Cyri thought, her stomach squirming. It was odd, but after all the running and searching she did to find her again, Cyri... didn't actually _want_ to see Snowpaw.

It couldn't have been clearer than it was now that Snowpaw was ThunderClan. Joy _was_ battling with desperation in her eyes - she loved her Clan. And Cyri... Cyri _didn't._ She didn't care for the wide hollow with it's unnaturally straight walls, or for the leafy, mouse-tainted ThunderClan scent. That wasn't home.

Home was marshy ground squelching under her paws. Home was creeping through the darkness around the edge of camp. It was that prickly, proud smell that other cats didn't like, for some reason. For goodness' sake, home was sharing _frogs_ with other cats.

Home was, for Cyri, ShadowClan.

***

Cyri stumbled through the darkening trees as fast as her three paws could carry her. She was fighting a tidal wave of homesickness that had nearly overcome her. She didn't know why she wanted to get there so fast, she just knew that she wanted to be in ShadowClan. And if she never saw ThunderClan again, it would be too soon.

Cursing her disabled paw, Cyri almost didn't notice as she passed the ShadowClan border. Then, the scent hit her.

The speckled grey she-cat stopped. She closed her eyes and blissfully breathed ShadowClan for a few heartbeats. It seemed to fill her from the inside, and she immediately felt calmer. _Oh, thank you._

_Whack_ - Cyri's eyes flew open as something very solid hit her flank. She tumbled over before getting her bearings and jumping up, fluffing out her fur. Before she knew what had even attacked her, she had whipped around, sinking her claws into its dark grey fur.

_What am I doing? I don't stand a chance! _Almost immediately, Cyri began to regret her desicion. She only had _three paws_!

"Ouch!" A muffled, slightly annoyed mew sounded from underneath her. "Keep your claws to yourself, mousebrain!"

Cyri retracted her claws at once, recognising the voice, and now, the scent, too, although it was masked with...

"Jaypaw, is that _blood_?"

"Yeah, well, you don't get your leg almost ripped off by a StarClan-cursed fox without smelling a bit off." Jaypaw winced as he got to his paws, gritting his teeth as he spoke. Cyri noticed that he kept one of his back legs sticking straight out behind him. The fur was torn, and the flesh was mangled and puffy, smeared in blood. It was now Cyri's turn to wince.

"You look _awful_!"

"I love you, too," muttered Jaypaw.

Cyri cocked her head.

Jaypaw flicked his ear self-consciously. Embarrassment left him in waves. "Never mind." He didn't meet Cyri's eyes.

The grey-speckled she-cat allowed herself a heartbeat to marvel at how different Jaypaw was to the cat he had been half a moon ago before she spoke again. Actually, she reflected, _she_ was pretty different, too. "You really need a medicine cat."

"It's fine," Jaypaw mewed gruffly. "I don't want a fuss-"

"Are you _joking_?" Cyri cut over him, her mew incredulous. She waved her tail towards the camp. "We leave. Now. Lean on me," she commanded.

"What?"

"_Lean_ on me." _Weird. I think I have an instinct that makes me help cats with injured limbs, or something. I don't normally care this much..._

"But you only have three paws!"

Amusement sparked in Cyri's eyes. "Then we'll have six and a half legs between us!"

***

"It's horribly infected..." Flamefur groaned, sniffing Jaypaw's leg. "Lionpaw, go and get me some marigold. Wait, scratch _some_ - get our whole stock."

"I don't know about this..." Jaypaw muttered, as the golden-furred apprentice dashed off to the stores. "Is this going to hurt?"

"It might sting a little, but I don't think there's anything else we can-" The medicine cat broke off, raising his head from the wound. He twitched his whiskers, looking worried. "Lionpaw, while you're there, get some poppy seeds. Three of them."

Lionpaw's alarmed face appeared from the gloom. "But that'll knock him out!"

"Knock me _out_?" Jaypaw's expression was thunderous.

But Flamefur's face was grim. "I know." His eyes flickered to Jaypaw. "I'm going to have to remove almost his whole back leg."

**Not the longest chapter in the world, but I hope that's enough. I have the whole actual plot plotted out chapter-by-chapter now, so I can tell you now that there's going to be two, possibly three, more chapters, and an epilogue. I know, last time it went on for ages more, but that was just a guess. And next chapter's going to have a bit of the JayCyri fluff in it that I've grown to kind of love ^o^**


	27. Twenty Five

**Thanks to xXStarless NightXx, NewProphecy, Rubyblaze, GinnyStar, Fioralba, Cinderpaw11, Penmaster51, Spottedtalon, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, allygirl56, Alita Black, Darkness of the Eclipse, and xXThunderspiritXx ****for reviewing! Now, if you detest fluff, this chapter isn't for you. Same thing if you hate saddish scenes. I wrote the last part of this with _I Want It That Way_ by the Backstreet Boys (sung by John and Edward... =facepalms at self=) on repeat, and so... I think it's a sad song.**

**DISCLAIMER: Nope and a nope and another nope! :D**

Twenty Five

Cyri sat outside the medicine cats' den, murmuring a fervent prayer to someone, _anyone_. She hadn't wanted to see Jaypaw's leg being bitten off.

"I'll be frank with you, Cyri..." Flamefur had mewed seriously. "I don't pretend an expert with amputations. You, I could deal with... It was just your paw, and it was only hanging on my a few tendons anyway... But Jaypaw... it's his whole leg..."

Cyri shuddered. She _definitely_ didn't want to be there.

All the ShadowClan cats that padded past her seemed to skirt her as though she had some sort of disease. It was just like being new to ShadowClan again... except that she _knew _these cats now. Only Flamefur and Lionpaw had been as friendly as usual. Russetstar had only given her permission to stay there while Jaypaw was being fixed up.

"_What in StarClan's name_?" An angry shriek split the air. Cyri's head jerked upwards.

"It was a fox, Frostpaw... I don't-"

The grey and white apprentice screwed up her eyes. A sparrow, evidence of her kill, lay at her paws. "Do me a favour, Sandpaw," she mewed, opening them again, "and shut up."

"Frostpaw!" Mintcloud, Sandpaw's mentor, padded up behind her apprentice and glared at Frostpaw reprovingly. "Don't be so harsh with her."

Frostpaw ignored her. "What has happened to him? What happened to my brother?"

"Jaypaw was injured," Mintcloud replied cautiously. "A fox-"

But she broke off as Frostpaw stormed away, forgetting to collect her fresh-kill.

_Oh... _Cyri's eyes widened as she realised that the fuming apprentice was marching straight towards her. _In the name of every star in the sky..._

"What did you do to him?" Frostpaw didn't even stop to say 'hello'. Cyri decided that the best defence was a good offense - putting on her 'ShadowClan' act.

"Nothing!" replied Cyri indignantly. "It was a fox, you mousebrain! Or haven't you been listening to what everyone's been telling you?"

Frostpaw blinked. She obviously hadn't been expecting such a strong response. But she recovered in an instant.

"I want to see him."

A thin voice reached their ears from the medicine cats' den.

"You can't!" called Lionpaw. "We're at a crucial st-" She broke off.

"Lionpaw?" Cyri didn't know if she wanted to hear.

"No, it's fine!" Lionpaw sounded slightly distressed. "There's just a _smidge_ more blood than we thought there would be..."

"Lionpaw, get outside," ordered Flamefur's voice.

"What? But-"

"Just help me bandage his leg, and then _go_."

There was silence for a few heartbeats.

Cyri turned. Frostpaw was glaring at her.

"What?" Cyri blinked. "Come on, he'll be fine..." Dread rose in her even as she uttered the words.

"If he dies..." Frostpaw shook her head.

Cyri felt annoyed. "Are you _threatening _me?"

"Are you threatening my Clan?"

"No!"

"Yes, yes you are! Everything, it's _all_ _your fault_!" spat Frostpaw. "ShadowClan _isn't your home_!"

Her words pierced Cyri like a blackthorn. Fury bubbled inside her.

But Frostpaw didn't know when to stop. "What's next? Do you want to _join_ the Clan, or something?" she hissed.

"Maybe I do!" The words burst out of Cyri without her consent. As they rang around the camp, she slapped her tail over her mouth. "_Foxdung_," she whispered, through her tail fur. Frostpaw's jaw fell open.

Cyri became painfully aware that every cat in the Clan was staring at her. Sorrelkit stopped her play. Dawnbreeze froze as she padded across camp. Fresh-kill lay, uneaten, at Darkblaze's paws.

Lionpaw padded out of the medicine cats' den.

"He's just regained consciousness," she mewed to the general public. She nodded to Frostpaw. "You can go in now... For a couple of heartbeats." She looked around at the unmoving cats. "What?"

The trance broke.

"N-nothing," Cyri mewed quickly.

Frostpaw jerked her head towards Lionpaw in a quick 'thank you' gesture, before dashing into the medicine cats' den. Cyri could hear low murmurs from it.

As the ShadowClan cats resumed their daily activities, looking more than a little stunned, Cyri flicked her tail awkwardly.

"So what was-" began Lionpaw, but luckily, Frostpaw emerged from the medicine cats' den at exactly that heartbeat, her features taut and strained. Cyri jumped at this excuse, and ran swiftly - well, as swiftly as was physically possible - into Flamefur and Lionpaw's den.

Jaypaw was lying on the patients' nest, his leg bound with rushes and spiderwebs. He looked very weak. Cyri could see spots of blood showing through the bandaging.

"It wasn't a good idea to try and amputate," mewed Flamefur in a very low, sorrowful voice. Cyri looked up - his bright green eyes were pained. "We just made the bleeding much, _much_ worse. He's lost so much blood... I don't-" He stopped. "Sorry, Cyri. You don't want to hear this. Go - go ahead and talk to him."

Cyri dipped her head. "Thank you." All of her earlier embarrassment, and any resentment she had felt towards Jaypaw, was gone. The only emotions she felt now were pity, and sadness.

"Cyri?" Jaypaw raised his head.

"Yes." Cyri wasn't quite sure why she was whispering. "I'm here."

"Oh..." Jaypaw blinked. "I wasn't sure... It's a bit dizzying, with all this blood gone..." He shook his head slowly from side to side. "Cyri, I... I don't think I'm going to live."

"Don't say that!" begged Cyri fiercely. "You'll be fine - Flamefur's a great medicine cat, he'll fix you."

Jaypaw flicked his ear sadly. "I can already hear StarClan calling me, I think, Cyri..." he mewed. "Unless you've got a whole host of muttering cats in the back of Flamefur's den..."

If she knew at all, Cyri couldn't remember what StarClan was. Nor did she care. This weak stab at humour only increased Cyri's grief. She touched her nose to Jaypaw's flank. "Don't die," she mumbled.

"I've just been holding on so that I could see you, though, Cyri..."

This was not what Cyri had expected to hear. Surprise flashed through her grief. "What?"

"Cyri, I need to actually say something... before I leave..." Even in his weakened state, Cyri sensed the now-familiar embarrassment flowing from Jaypaw.

"Um..." Cyri wasn't sure what to say. "What is it?"

But Jaypaw's breath was becoming more and more laboured. He coughed, and Cyri was shocked by how his coughs racked his body.

"Don't worry," she said quickly. "Save your breath-"

"Oh, shut up." Jaypaw's breath came out in a rasp. His yellow eyes met Cyri's. "I'll say this if it's the last thing I do - and it will be," he added. "How ironic."

Cyri waited. She would have given a great deal to have told him not to speak, but there was a steely glint in his eyes that told her not to.

"Cyri..." he said slowly. "What I said after you said I looked awful... in the forest... I... I meant it."

Cyri's jaw fell open, but she said nothing as Jaypaw's breaths became shorter and shorter.

And then, like the sun disappearing beneath the trees, the light behind his eyes seemed to switch off.

"...I love you, too." whispered Cyri.

**=bawls=**

**DARN YOU, JAYPAW, YOU'VE JUST MESSED UP MY WHOLE PLOT!!! T_T**


	28. Twenty Six

**Thanks to NewProphecy, Penmaster51, Darkness of the Eclipse, Fioralba, allygirl56, CRAZEDREADER96 A.K.A JET LEE, Alita Black, LittleSpark, Rubyblaze, xXStarless NightXx, Cinderpaw11, GinnyStar, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, xXThunderspiritXx, Spottedtalon, and Wildwaters ****for reviewing! And to think... you people used to hate Jaypaw! You declared your undying hate! And now you're sniffling over his death! ...And so am I, to tell the utter truth... (And I apologise if you cried... at which I would be _scared_ about. Seriously, people crying at stuff _I_ wrote??)**

**DISCLAIMER: Who owns Warriors? Well, it's not me, that's for sure. And it's probably not you either... Unless you're one of the Erins. In which case I would freak out that one of the Erins was reading my fanfiction.**

Twenty Six

Cyri couldn't watch as Tawnypelt, Rowanclaw, Oakfur, and Snowbird carried Jaypaw's body out of Flamefur and Lionpaw's den and lay it gently in the middle of camp. Every cat was silent as Tawnypelt lightly lowered his eyelids with one delicately extended paw.

_He could be sleeping,_ thought Cyri, her heart giving an uncomfortable lurch of grief. The elders had even arranged his limbs, one still bandaged, into a comfortable, almost normal-looking position. A light noon breeze ruffled his dark grey pelt. Jaypaw looked _peaceful_.

It suddenly occurred to Cyri how exhausted she was. She hadn't slept at all the night before - she had been busy trying to stop the battle. It was now sunhigh the next day. She wanted to stay awake... but she was so tired...

Shrewfoot, Jaypaw's mentor, padded forward to sit vigil for the fallen apprentice. Murmuring something into his unhearing ear, she settled down next to him.

"Thank you," whispered Larkpelt to Flamefur. Her mew was rough with loss. "Thank you for taking my son to StarClan. Our son," she added sorrowfully, as Tigerheart padded up behind her. The powerful tabby looked only a little more composed than his mate. He licked Larkpelt's cheek tenderly.

"Come on," Tigerheart murmured. "We should join the vigil..."

Cyri swallowed painfully, trying to dislodge the lump from her throat. She hadn't known that Larkpelt and Tigerheart were Jaypaw's parents. Now she came to it, there were so many things that she hadn't known about Jaypaw... so many things she should have asked...

If only she had known sooner! They could have had ages... Moons, even... If she had known what the source of the embarrassment flowing from his pelt had been all this time...

As was tradition in the Clan, cats were now gathering around Jaypaw to share tongues with him, and wish his spirit well on its way to StarClan.

StarClan. Cyri had remembered what it was. The band of heavenly cats in the sky, Lionpaw had once told her... At the time, Cyri had been unsure of their existence. _Cats in the sky? _she had thought scathingly. However, now, she hoped fiercely that they were real. That Jaypaw would have some place to go. And Half, too. Hadn't he said that he was on the outskirts of StarClan...?

Cyri padded forward, closer to Jaypaw's body. The cats that were already huddled there - Larkpelt, Tigerheart, Shrewfoot, and Frostpaw - looked up. The older three simply turned back to Jaypaw again, for which Cyri was grateful. Perhaps... perhaps they were willing to accept her sharing tongues?

But Frostpaw shot her a filthy glare. It clearly said 'Later.' A threat.

Cyri shuddered. She could tell that Frostpaw didn't think that she had deserved to see Jaypaw's final moments. But it was done now, thought Cyri wearily. No cat could turn back time, and let Frostpaw or any other cat be there to witness Jaypaw's dying heartbeats.

_I can't imagine why she'd want to, anyway..._ the speckled grey she-cat thought, sitting down next to Shrewfoot, who only glanced up briefly, and beginning to groom Jaypaw's pelt. _I'd _never_ want to see that..._ The moment that Jaypaw's eyes had dulled... It reminded Cyri too much of Half's death.

And it came down to the same thing, didn't it? The fox. The fox had killed Half. The fox had injured Jaypaw, so that he was lying here now, lifeless, in front of her. And the fox had maimed _her_.

Cyri felt her eyelids trying to close. Her limbs felt heavy with exhaustion. But she had to stay awake. She _had_ to.

***

"Cyri? Cyri?"

Someone was gently prodding her with a paw.

Cyri made a small, annoyed noise, trying to tell the paw that she wanted to be left asleep.

"Cyri? We have to take Jaypaw out for burial now..."

_Jaypaw..._ The word sliced through the numbing fog in her mind. Jaypaw, dead, and she was supposed to be sitting vigil for him.

Cyri jerked fully awake. "S-sorry!" she squeaked, jumping up and tripping backwards. She felt horribly guilty. She had fallen asleep during Jaypaw's vigil.

Mist hung over the camp, blurring the features of the few cats that were awake. It was clearly just after sunrise - she had slept for the rest of the day and the whole night.

Tawnypelt's gentle face swam through the crisp, early morning air. "It's fine," she purred. She glanced at Jaypaw's body, which the other elders were waiting to pick up. "I was just supposed to tell you... Russetstar wants to see you in her den."

Cyri's stomach seemed to plummet. "Russetstar?"

But Tawnypelt had already turned away. All four elders were busy bearing Jaypaw's body out of camp. Cyri had no choice but to cautiously pad to the dark overhang of the tree Russetstar used to address the Clan from. She didn't dare disobey Russetstar.

"He-hello?" Cyri's mew had reverted back to that annoying, tinny squeal from her kithood.

Russetstar's dark ginger face was just about visible in the gloom.

"Ah... yes," she muttered. "Come in."

Cyri padded into the ShadowClan leader's den, trying her best to limp in a more dignified fashion than she normally did.

"Russetstar," murmured Cyri, dipping her head to the ginger she-cat.

Russetstar acknowledged this with a nod. "Now, Cyri..." She almost winced as she said the name, as though it were painful. "I hear that you want to join ShadowClan?" She clearly thought that there was no point beating about the bush.

Cyri gulped, remembering her outburst with much chagrin. Russetstar had heard her, too?

_Of course she did, mousebrain..._ she scolded herself. _Every cat in the Clan heard you..._ "I... I'm not sure I really meant that, Russetstar," she mewed quickly, addressing Russetstar's paws. But she couldn't help that tiny spark of _hope _flashing through her... 'ShadowClan warrior' sounded most appealing, there was no use denying that...

"Good." Cyri glanced up, shocked, as Russetstar's mew became harsh. "Because you _can't_."

"I..." Cyri blinked, quite afraid by Russetstar's change in tone. "Exc-excuse me?"

"You will not become a member of my Clan," Russetstar repeated. Her eyes were narrowed to green slits. "I can't afford any more deaths. You're one of those cats... one of those cats who cause... accidents. Tragedies. And ShadowClan could do without them."

Hurt, Cyri tried to swallow the hard lump in her throat. "O-okay." Her mew had become whispery.

Suddenly, Russetstar looked rather embarrassed.

"Right," she mewed gruffly. "I think... I think you'd better go now. And this time, Cyri," she mewed, eyes low, "don't come back."

***

"Cyri? Where are you going?"

Lionpaw's mew was bewildered, but Cyri had to ignore it. She needed to leave.

She didn't even look at the golden-furred apprentice as she limped across camp, head bowed. She knew that she was attracting a lot of stares, but she didn't particularly care.

"What...? Cyri?"

The three-pawed she-cat couldn't look at Jaypaw's grave. She didn't want to see where his body would lie forever... And so she ignored Rowanclaw, too.

Cyri didn't even know where her paws were taking her. She just limped.

Limped.

Limped.

_I can't think of a meaning for my life anymore._

"Cyri...?"

**Okay, _breathe, _Cyri... Right, Jaypaw's death has not mucked up my entire plot. There will definitely - _definitely_ - be two chapters and an epilogue. Unless my characters run away with me again...**

**And I assure you - if you liked Jaypaw, you might like the ending... I won't say anymore, but... =mysterious grin= ;)**


	29. Twenty Seven

**Thanks to Fioralba, xXStarless NightXx, LittleSpark, Darkness of the Eclipse, Rubyblaze, Alita Black, WidCroconaw, NewProphecy, xXThunderspiritXx, Penmaster51, allygirl56, Cinderpaw11, Hiddenfilly, and Shiningheart of ThunderClan ****for reviewing! I am _so_ hyper for this chapter! Very much a turning point, and the next one... Well, let's just say that _someone_ has correctly guessed what's going to happen...! Okay, okay, enough with the spoilers. I'll just shut up with the author's note, okay?**

**DISCLAIMER: I own... zilch.**

Twenty Seven

"Cyri?"

Cyri blinked. She turned around, although reluctantly. She wanted to leave. She registered vaguely how she still had no general aim or goal... she just wanted to keep out of the company of other cats.

It was Snowpaw. Cyri dully absorbed this fact. Her mother, back again. To make more trouble, no doubt. That was what she always did.

"Is... everything okay?" Snowpaw asked tentatively. Her tail was swishing back and forth, and she looked slightly worried about her daughter.

It would have been too long of a story to explain, so Cyri simply nodded. "Everything's fine," she replied simply. Cyri wondered why she was telling her mother this - she could only think of one point in her life when she had ever been _less _fine.

"Oh, okay." Now that Cyri looked at her mother properly, she could see that she was fairly distracted. Her eyes were darting about, and Cyri realised that she wasn't worried about her at all. She was _excited_.

"Snowpaw..." Cyri mewed slowly. "What's-"

"Listen, Cyri," said Snowpaw quickly, cutting her daughter off. Her eyes were shining. "I've been offered a place in ThunderClan. And... so have you."

Cyri's insides seemed to have disappeared. "Wh-what?" She swayed where she stood, feeling dazed, as though some cat had hit her in the face.

"Lionstar thinks that we'd make good attributes to the Clan." Snowpaw was still speaking very fast. "A cat called Brightheart was taught to fight when she was injured horribly... and Lionstar believes you will, too. It's _my_ old Clan, Cyri..." She hesitated briefly. "What do you think?"

_I don't want anything to do with ThunderClan, _thought Cyri silently. But somehow... she couldn't bring herself to say the words out loud. Snowpaw looked so _hopeful_... like a tiny kit might before they were denied a huge treat.

But she couldn't agree, either... If she became a member of ThunderClan, ShadowClan would become her enemy... And Cyri felt, however selfishly, that she had already had her fair share of bad luck in life.

And so she was torn. Torn between her mother's happiness... and her own.

***

Frostpaw's ears were pricked. Every sense was alert.

She had just heard the whole of Russetstar and Cyri's conversation, and witnessed Cyri padding out of camp, head hanging.

"Great _StarClan_," she muttered to herself, leaping daintily away from Russetstar's den, and towards Flamefur and Lionpaw's den. "What am I doing?"

She was going to see Lionpaw.

The death of Jaypaw had devastated Frostpaw, and it had devastated Cyri, too. Frostpaw knew of Jaypaw's - misplaced, in her opinion - affections for the maimed she-cat. And she had expected to hate Cyri ever more after Jaypaw's death... But it had had almost the opposite effect.

Frostpaw hated herself, now, for _admiring _Cyri. She admired the grey she-cat's courage in the face of her injury.

And she felt that she had to honour Jaypaw's memory...

Those were the reasons why she was heading to the medicine cats' den, now, to enlist Lionpaw's help.

***

"So, let's get this straight..." mewed Lionpaw. "You want to _help_?"

"Shhh!" mewed Frostpaw hurriedly. "Keep it down, mousebrain!"

Lionpaw shook her head. "Stubborn," she accused. "There's no shame in no longer disliking a cat, Frostpaw."

"I don't 'no longer dislike' her," muttered Frostpaw, not meeting Lionpaw's eyes. "It's Jaypaw's memory I'm honouring, here." Sensing Lionpaw's amusement, and not liking a younger apprentice feeling superior to her, Frostpaw hurried on to her plan.

And if she did say so herself, Frostpaw thought that it was _genius_.

***

Soon afterwards, Frostpaw and Lionpaw were running through the forest as fast as their four paws could carry them.

"Got the scent?" puffed Frostpaw.

"I'm a medicine cat," Lionpaw reminded her. "Haven't you got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, but just making sure..." Frostpaw sighed. "Never _mind_."

Cyri appeared to have circled in several circumstances. Frostpaw was worried - her scent was dull and it seemed as though she was trailing around the forest in a depression. Frostpaw could smell that she had no energy. Had Jaypaw's death devastated her that much? Frostpaw gulped, feeling guilty, but pushed on.

Presently, the scent became much stronger.

"We're nearly there!" Frostpaw hissed, slowing down. The golden-furred medicine cat apprentice copied her.

Frostpaw opened her mouth. The scent of Cyri flooded her jaws, as did another scent, similar to Cyri's, but edged with ThunderClan. Frostpaw clamped her jaws shut, disgusted - how ThunderClan could live with that stench was beyond her.

Creeping through the undergrowth, Lionpaw on her tail, Frostpaw peered through a low-hanging pine tree to see Cyri conversing with a larger white she-cat. Frostpaw supposed that she was the source of the ThunderClan scent. Cyri looked worried, although admittedly, not as lifeless as she had feared. The white she-cat looked excited - there was a shine in her eyes that was reminiscent of the look Cyri often got when she managed to walk further than she had a couple of heartbeats before.

"Go," Frostpaw hissed to Lionpaw.

"Oh, but..." Lionpaw looked disappointed. "Couldn't you go?"

Frostpaw flicked her tail in irritation. "I'm older - you do what I say. You _promised_ you'd go. You _promised_."

"Fine," sighed Lionpaw. "I'd still rather stay here..." she muttered sulkily. She turned around, wriggled under a prickly bush, and disappeared from sight.

Frostpaw shook her head at the younger apprentice. "Keep your tail down!" she hissed. Lionpaw's golden-furred tail, which had previously been sticking straight up in the air, vanished into the undergrowth. Frostpaw and turned her attention back to Cyri and the white she-cat.

Somehow, she would just have to keep them there until Lionpaw got back.

The grey-and-white ShadowClan apprentice hoped they wouldn't move.

***

"Lionpaw, what _is_ the meaning of this?"

Frostpaw, Cyri, and the white she-cat all jumped at the same time as Russetstar's loud mew rang out. Frostpaw turned - Lionpaw was working her way through the undergrowth with Russetstar and Flamefur in tow. She glanced at Frostpaw for approval.

Frostpaw mouthed _good work_ at Lionpaw before turning to Russetstar, who was looking puzzled and somewhat annoyed.

"Um, hi, Russetstar," she mewed nervously.

But Russetstar wasn't looking at Frostpaw. She was staring over Frostpaw's shoulder at Cyri and the white she-cat, who were, as Frostpaw saw when she turned around, gazing back at Russetstar with the same confusion.

"Frostpaw?" Russetstar blinked and snapped herself back to Frostpaw. "What is the meaning of this?" she repeated, sounding slightly angry.

Frostpaw willed Cyri to stay where she was, but unfortunately, she was no StarClan cat, and she couldn't work miracles. Cyri came hurrying up to the small party of cats, the white she-cat behind her.

"Listen." Frostpaw only had a few heartbeats before Cyri came into earshot, so she was speaking very fast indeed. "I think that Cyri should join ShadowClan."

Too late. Frostpaw winced as she heard Cyri's irregular pawsteps stop. She was shocked - _and so she should be,_ Frostpaw thought. _I'm the last cat she would have expected to stick up for her._

"You _exiled_ her?" Flamefur's shocked mew broke the silence. "_Again_?"

Russetstar looked surprised, but also rather annoyed. "Well, yes, I did," she admitted to the medicine cat. "I can have whichever cats I want in my Clan," she added haughtily, drawing herself up to her full height.

"You didn't even think to consult me?" Flamefur sounded hurt. "I personally feel that Cyri would be a valuable attribute to our Clan, with her past experiences."

Every cat was looking at Russetstar now.

"Well... well..." the ginger she-cat spluttered.

_We're pressurising her,_ thought Frostpaw guiltily. _But she's cracking._

"Wait a heartbeat!" The snow white she-cat had evidently decided to speak up. "Cyri's coming to live in ThunderClan, with me!"

"What?" Flamefur blinked. "You - you're Snowpaw? Cyri's mother?"

"Yes, I am!" Snowpaw held her chin up. "And Lionstar has offered us both places in my old Clan!"

Now it was Lionpaw who was looking hurt. "And... Cyri? Did you... Did you say... yes?"

"Well, obviously she's going to say yes!" Snowpaw glared at Lionpaw protectively. Lionpaw squeaked and scurried behind her mentor.

_I didn't count on Cyri's mother to turn up... _Frostpaw's tail swished back and forth. _This could complicate matters._

But Cyri was shaking now. Whether it was from anger or fear, Frostpaw couldn't tell... But she was evidently steeling herself to do something.

"_No_!"

**Super long chapter! And I apologise for all the star thingies - they were needed!**


	30. Twenty Eight

**Thanks to NewProphecy, xXStarless NightXx, Rubyblaze, xXThunderspiritXx, Darkness of the Eclipse, GinnyStar, Penmaster51, allygirl56, Alita Black, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, Wildwaters, Spottedtalon, Cinderpaw11, and Fioralba ****for reviewing! LAST PROPER CHAPTER, GUYS :'( I will miss writing this story...**

**DISCLAIMER: Does anyone actually look at these disclaimers? HELLOOOOOOOO?!? I DON'T OWN WARRIOOOOOORS!!**

Twenty Eight

There was silence. Cyri's heart thudded in her chest, and her legs shook. She hoped that she wasn't about to fall over.

"You... don't?"

Cyri didn't want to look at her mother, but she could feel her sky-blue eyes scorching her pelt. Slowly, Cyri turned to face Snowpaw.

Snowpaw's face had crumpled, crestfallen, and her whiskers and tail drooped. The disappointment in her eyes almost broke Cyri - she had to focus on her paws as she spoke.

"No," whispered Cyri. "I don't want to join ThunderClan, Snowpaw. I... I want to join ShadowClan."

Snowpaw uttered a soft gasp. "Cyri... you don't mean...?"

Through the ache that she felt for her mother, the ShadowClan inside Cyri sparked a little irritation. She didn't _want_ to be guilt-tripped into doing something she didn't want to... something that would affect her entire life.

"I mean it," she replied, her mew just a shade sharper.

Cyri dared to lift her eyes. Snowpaw still looked totally shell-shocked, as though she couldn't see why her daughter would want to become a part of ShadowClan instead of a member of ThunderClan.

There was an extremely tense pause. Cyri noticed Frostpaw shuffling her paws.

Snowpaw's face changed from disappointed to slightly angry to hurt and then to many different emotions that Cyri couldn't name.

Finally; "Okay." Snowpaw's mew was somewhat steady. Cyri was surprised. "That's fine. In that case... We'll both join ShadowClan."

"Wait _just_ one heartbeat."

Cyri groaned internally as Russetstar stepped in.

"Neither of you will be joining my Clan, actually," she informed them. "A ThunderClan cat and a rogue with three paws?" She snorted. "No fear."

"But Russetstar," Frostpaw piped up, "Firestar-"

"-was a kittypet," finished Russetstar coldly. "And therefore blinded by softness."

Frostpaw flinched.

Cyri sighed. There was absolutely no chance that Russetstar might change her mind. She padded forward and licked Lionpaw over the ear.

"Thanks for being my friend, Lionpaw," she whispered.

"Yeah." Lionpaw's eyes were soft and sad. "I guess we'll never see each other again."

"We'll be long distance friends, right?"

"Right. Yeah. Okay."

Cyri could tell that Lionpaw didn't really believe that that would work. She sighed.

_Thank you,_ she mouthed to Flamefur. He acknowledged this with a nod, his green eyes gleaming warmly.

Frostpaw sidled up to her.

Cyri glanced at her. "I suppose I wasn't as much of a freak as you thought," she muttered out of the side of her mouth. "What came over you, then?"

"Oh, shut up." Despite her harsh words, there was a hint of a purr in Frostpaw's mew. "I was just honouring Jaypaw's memory, like I said. Least I could do for him, really..." She trailed off.

Cyri was about to reply, but she stopped herself as she saw Russetstar gazing at the two of them with a curious expression.

"Listen." The ShadowClan leader's mew was harsh and rough, as though it was costing her a lot to say this. "Why don't... why don't you make a den on ShadowClan territory?"

Cyri's jaw fell open in shock. She quickly shut it again. "Are... are you...?" She stumbled over her words.

"Yes, I'm sure." Russetstar sighed heavily. "I don't know what's come over me, but yes. Maybe Flamefur'll let me keep my pelt now."

"Oh, _thank_ you, Stussetrar!" gasped Cyri wildly, overcome. "I mean, Russetstar! Thank you!"

"Yes, thank you, Russetstar." Snowpaw, who Cyri had quite forgotten the existence of, dipped her head. "We will be quite happy to make our den-" She cut off at Russetstar's expression. There was an uncomfortable silence. "Oh," Snowpaw whispered. "You don't... you don't mean me."

"You _are_ kind of a ThunderClan cat," Frostpaw put in. She twitched her whiskers. "It feels like Cyri's more with_ us_." She glanced around. "What?" she mewed defensively, seeing Russetstar's expression. "Everyone else was thinking it! I just said it!"

Snowpaw blinked. "Then me and Cyri'll just..." She trailed off. Fear flooded her eyes. "Won't we... Cyri?"

But Cyri knew that she was done doing what her mother wanted her to do.

Slowly, she shook her head.

This seemed to be too much for Snowpaw. She gave another tiny gasp, and did what she and Cyri always seemed to do in the face of something that they couldn't stand.

She fled.

***

Cyri trudged through the peaty soil, occasionally prodding a fallen tree branch with the stump of her paw.

For the first time in her life, she was going to do what _she _wanted to do.

And it felt good.

She was a little worried about Snowpaw, but, as she reminded herself, Snowpaw was a fully-grown cat. She could look after herself. Somehow, she knew that she had done the right thing. After all, it hadn't been Cyri who had run away this time, had it?

Now, Cyri was looking for an appropriate place to build her own nest. Not somewhere too close to the ShadowClan camp, Russetstar had instructed. And too close to the ThunderClan border would be... Well. Cyri shuddered.

So she was wandering somewhere around the middle strip of ShadowClan territory. The morning was bright, and she felt buoyed up and cheerful. Were it not for her paw, she would have capered around in circles like a young kit.

That was, she felt happy until she heard a thunderous growl behind her.

Cyri whipped around, fluffing out her fur. She didn't truthfully need to look - from the heartbeat she had smelt the dog-like, blood-tainted scent, she had known what it was.

The fox that had killed Half.

The fox that had killed Jaypaw.

And the fox that had ruined her life.

Blood pounded in Cyri's ears. The fox's dark yellow eyes were narrowed into slits as another growl slid out of its murderous jaws.

Strangely, though, Cyri didn't feel afraid. _This fox is the one that should feel afraid,_ she vowed, bunching her muscles.

She leapt, and sank her jaws into the fox's flank. Her pointed teeth pierced the skin, and Cyri tasted blood. She bit down harder, feeling a vindictive pleasure in hearing the fox squeal with pain.

Letting the fox loose, she unsheathed her claws and prepared to target the fox's eyes.

But she hesitated a heartbeat too long. The fox lunged, snatching Cyri up in it's jaws. Cyri froze - if the fox bit down now, her spine would snap. She would die in exactly the same way as Half had. She could see the fox's long, yellow teeth... The scent of crowfood in its breath was overpowering...

Cyri closed her eyes and prepared to die.

She felt a tickling sensation near her ear. It was surely the fox's whiskers... she would die with an annoyance next her ear... _Fantastic..._ Cyri thought.

"I won't fail this time," whispered a familiar voice.

Cyri's eyes snapped open.

"Half?" she breathed, hardly daring to believe it.

Sure enough, her brother was standing, large as life, in front of the fox, unchanged but for the stars scattering his black-and-white pelt. He flicked his ear in amusement.

"I don't know about you," he mewed, humour clear in his mew, "but I'm kind of annoyed with this accursed fox."

He jumped up and bit the fox neatly on the ear. Baffled by the attack from something it couldn't see, the fox gave a yelp of pain and dropped Cyri, who scrambled up swiftly, ignoring the pain in her stump of a paw. She felt stronger. Her brother had come to save her. He was _here_.

Together with Half, Cyri delivered bites, scratches, and kicks to the perplexed fox. Strangely, although Half was merely a spirit, his teeth left puncture marks in the fox's scruff, his claws pulled out tufts of reddish-brown fur, and his kicking was clearly leaving the fox winded.

Cyri reared up on her back paws to try and claw the fox again, but the fox dodged the attack and grabbed Cyri by the scruff. Half barrelled into the fox, who bit down harder into Cyri's scruff - Cyri squeaked in pain - and threw her into a nearby tree.

There was a crunch as Cyri's head slammed into the trunk. She felt something warm and wet trickling down her forehead, sticking her fur together.

Dazed, with black spots clouding her vision, Cyri fought to regain consciousness. Shaking her head, she got unsteadily to her paws, and leapt onto the fox again.

However, the fox appeared to be spinning... Cyri's vision was going out of control... But she had to keep fighting...

Horribly dizzy, Cyri bit down wherever she saw russet fur.

Cyri sank her pointed teeth into the fox yet again. She heard something crack. Her target slumped, but Cyri couldn't see it properly...

"Cyri!"

She heard Half shouting. She shook her head again, desperate to stop the black dots that were gathering at the edge of her sight. She could vaguely see Half, and another starry shape...? With a dark grey pelt...?

"Cyri...! You did it!" cried the shape gleefully.

And, through her lightheadedness, Cyri felt a touch of jubilance. For she could just about see it...

Cyri was standing in front of the fox's dead body.

_It won't harm any cat anymore... _Cyri thought blearily.

And with this thought comforting her, she sank gratefully into oblivion.

**Ahhh, last chapter! And let's get something straight, alright - _Cyri didn't die_! She only lost consciousness. Oh, and if anyone can guess who the 'dark grey shape' was... Kudos to you! Here's a hint: it's the same cat that Spottedleaf showed Half in the puddle!**


	31. Epilogue

**Here for the final chapter... =drumroll= It's the epilogue! We finally reach the end... After ninety-two pages of Microsoft Word, many detours, much trying to catch characters and bully them into concentrating on the plot, and a _lot _of hitting my head on the keyboard, I'm here at last. ****Oh, the dark grey cat? It was Jaypaw ^.^ But the other guesses were really good, too. Lots of people guessed Pepper...**

**And thanks to StarlessSnowfire, NewProphecy, Darkness of the Eclipse, Brightspirit, Shiningheart of ThunderClan, Thunderspirit, GinnyStar, Fioralba, Frenzied Warrior, allygirl56, Penmaster51, Rubyblaze, Cinderpaw11, and Spottedtalon for always reviewing! It honestly means so much to me that you people read... and that you like it, too!**

**DISCLAIMER: Cyri and her alter ego don't own Warriors. Well, I don't see how Cyri could, in any case, seeing as she's a cat... :/**

Epilogue

"Cyri?"

Cyri blinked sleepily, and then yawned. "Wha-what?"

"I've got a lizard here, if you want it. Flamefur told me to bring it over."

Cyri sat up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes before stretching the exhaustion out of her limbs. "Oh," she mewed, yawning again. Recognising the cat who had spoken, she accepted the fresh-kill. "Thanks, Lionpaw."

"You're welcome," replied the golden-furred apprentice, her eyes warm.

It was sunhigh. Over half a moon had passed since Cyri and Half had killed the fox. Cyri had been having a nap in the sunshine, and Lionpaw had brought her the fresh-kill that Cyri needed, as some ShadowClan cat always did around this time.

"I sometimes think that you cats spoil me too much," Cyri admitted, prodding the lizard with her bad paw. "Don't you need this?"

"Well, Russetstar sometimes thinks so, but... she likes having you on our territory as much as any other cat, so she's not going to complain." Lionpaw licked a paw and drew it over her whiskers, sounding amused.

Cyri said nothing.

"Oh, listen..." Lionpaw mewed. "Frostwhisker went to the Gathering last night."

"Really?" Cyri looked up, interested. It would have been the young cat's first Gathering as a warrior. "She must have been excited."

"She was." Lionpaw rolled her eyes. "Full of herself, too... But what she wanted me to tell you was that... that your mother was there."

Cyri blinked. "Snowpaw?"

"Snow_flight_," Lionpaw corrected. She looked rather worried. "Apparently, Frostwhisker told her you were fine, and she acted like she couldn't care less, but after the Gathering, while every cat was leaving... she cornered Frostwhisker and told her thanks."

Cyri gave a small sigh, thinking. So her mother had joined ThunderClan after all... and earned her warrior name. It looked like she was really moving on.

"Not that all of ThunderClan sounded happy about it, mind you," Lionpaw added, cutting Cyri's thoughts short. "Frostwhisker said that the cheers for her were... unenthusiastic, to say the least."

"Oh." Cyri put her head on one side.

"Not that Snowflight herself didn't seem happy," Lionpaw assured her. "Frostwhisker told me... she looked delighted to be back with her Clanmates."

"Hmm." Cyri could hardly believe that Snowflight had forgotten her so quickly, but...

_Maybe she hasn't, _whispered Half's voice. _Perhaps she's just putting on a brave face. Like you did._

Cyri blinked. Snowflight. The cat who had, in all truths, caused her enough grief.

_I _will _put it behind me._

***

A pair of bright blue eyes shone out of the ShadowClan gloom. They were fixed on Cyri and her golden-furred ShadowClan friend.

The sensitive ears of the cat the eyes belonged to heard faint pawsteps from behind her... She would be in a lot of trouble if a patrol, enemy or otherwise, caught her on this side of the border. She wasn't exactly _popular_ with her Clanmates at the moment, in any case.

Twitching her whiskers, she turned back in the direction of the ThunderClan camp.

It was all over now.

_Goodbye, dearest daughter._

**After the ultra-long chapters before this, this was an epilogue in much shortness. Meh. Oh well. To appease you, I'll put up the updated allegiances. Here's ThunderClan and ShadowClan as they stand after this conversation. And thanks again to everyone who ever reviewed ^_^**

ThunderClan

LEADER: Lionstar - golden tabby tom with amber eyes

DEPUTY: Millie - striped grey tabby she-cat, former kittypet

MEDICINE CAT: Mistypool - mottled brown she-cat with yellow eyes  
Apprentice - Mousepaw

WARRIORS:

Birchfall - light brown tabby tom

Mousewhisker - grey-and-white tom

Cinderheart - grey tabby she-cat

Foxleap - reddish tabby tom

Toadspots - black-and-white tom  
Apprentice - Pinepaw

Icecloud - white she-cat

Bumblestripe - very pale grey tom with black stripes

Blossomflower - pale brown she-cat with a dark stripe along her spine

Dovewing - fluffy grey she-cat  
Apprentice - Icepaw

Emberfire - dark ginger tom

Beechtail - brown tabby tom

Stormflight - long-furred dark grey tom  
Apprentice - Brightpaw

Willowstorm - tawny-furred she-cat with amber eyes  
Apprentice - Fernpaw

Swallowfeather - pale brown she-cat

Thrushwhisker - brown tom with amber eyes

Snowflight - white she-cat with blue eyes and grey tipped ears

APPRENTICES:

Pinepaw - long-haired grey tom

Mousepaw - tawny tom with green eyes

Icepaw - white she-cat

Heatherpaw - dark ginger she-cat

Fernpaw - tortoiseshell she-cat

Brightpaw - white she-cat with amber eyes

QUEENS:

Briarfern - dark brown she-cat, mother of Toadspots' kits; Tigerkit (ginger tabby tom) and Goldenkit (dark golden she-kit)

Roseflower - dark cream she-cat, mother of Beechtail's kit; Oakkit (pale brown tom)

Ivypool - tabby-and-white she-cat, mother of Stormflight's kits; Firekit (grey tabby tom), Ashkit (dark grey she-kit) and Tawnykit (tawny she-kit)

ELDERS:

Poppyfrost - tortoiseshell she-cat, retired early due to stress

Spiderleg - long-limbed black tom with a brown underbelly and amber eyes

Squirrelflight - dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

Ferncloud - pale grey (with darker flecks) she-cat with green eyes

ShadowClan

LEADER: Russetstar - dark ginger she-cat

DEPUTY: Snaketail - dark brown tom with a tabby striped tail

MEDICINE CAT: Flamefur - ginger tom  
Apprentice - Lionpaw

WARRIORS:

Crowfrost - black-and-white tom

Ratscar - brown tom with a long scar across his back

Tigerheart - dark brown tabby tom

Dawnbreeze - cream-furred she-cat

Scorchfire - dark grey tom

Redstorm - mottled brown and ginger tom  
Apprentice - Thistlepaw

Owlflight - light brown tabby tom

Shrewfoot - grey she-cat with black feet

Darkblaze - long-furred black tom with green eyes

Mintcloud - tortoiseshell she-cat  
Apprentice - Sandpaw

Larkpelt - dark grey she-cat

Sparrowfur - russet brown tom

Silverstripe - silver she-cat

Brindleclaw - tortoiseshell she-cat

Mothfrost - brown tabby she-cat  
Apprentice - Sorrelpaw

Cloudheart - dark grey tom with paler patches

Yellowflight - grey she-cat with yellow eyes

Frostwhisker - grey and white she-cat

APPRENTICES:

Lionpaw - golden-furred she-cat, apprentice to the medicine cat

Thistlepaw - silver tom

Sandpaw - dark ginger she-cat

Sorrelpaw - tortoiseshell she-cat with a white chest and white paws

QUEENS:

Shrewfoot - grey she-cat with black feet, pregnant with Darkblaze's kits.

ELDERS:

Rowanclaw - ginger tom, former deputy

Snowbird - pure white she-cat

Tawnypelt - tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Cats Outside Clans

Cyri - grey speckled she-cat with a white belly and white paws, lives inside of ShadowClan territory


End file.
